Prue Car MP
Deputy Premier
Minister for Education and Early Learning
Steve Whan
Member for Monaro
MEDIA RELEASE
Cooma preschool expansion to meet needs of Snowy 2.0 families
Wednesday, 25 September 2024
Cooma Lambie Street Preschool has been watching its waitlist grow over the last 4 years due to an influx of families to the Snowy Mountains for the largest renewable energy project in Australia.
The community benefitted from the official opening last week of an expanded and modernised preschool service after the NSW Government awarded the not-for-profit service $586,000 to help build three new learning spaces.
Cooma Lambie Street Preschool is finally able to keep pace with the population boom, providing more children across the region access to top quality and affordable early childhood education.
Snowy 2.0 is the largest renewable energy project in Australia that will provide on-demand energy and large-scale storage for many generations to come, underpinning the nation's transition to a low-carbon emissions future.
Cooma is the service hub for Snowy 2.0 and around 500 workers and their families will call Cooma home throughout the project's lifespan.
The Cooma Lambie Street expansion includes a new learning room, administration office and a staff meeting and training room, with an additional 20 licensed places a day so that 40 more children can attend preschool each week.
This means the service can now care for a total of 99 children aged 3 to 5 over five days and can significantly lower its waiting list.
The NSW Department of Education is committed to improving access to quality early childhood education and care for children across the state.
The Cooma Lambie Street Preschool expansion was funded through the department's Start Strong Capital Works Program.
Deputy Premier and Minister for Early Learning Pruce Car said:
"It's so important that all children, no matter their background or where the live, have access to high quality early childhood education and care.
"What a wonderful day to see the official opening of an expanded Cooma Lambie Street Preschool, which is playing a key role in attracting workers and their families to live in the Snowy Mountains.
"We know that families here have been facing extensive waitlists and this expansion will give them access to more quality, affordable early childhood education.
Member for Monaro Steve Whan said:
"It is great to see the delivery of a new and improved Cooma Lambie Street Preschool that will help cater to the needs of the Snowy Mountains community.
"I have been working in regional NSW for a long time, and I am conscious of the importance of families having access to quality early childhood education and care in country towns.
"Snowy 2.0 will generate around 4,000 direct jobs in the Snowy Mountains region throughout the life of the project, and thousands more in supply chain and services roles.
"For us to provide and maintain this skilled workforce it is crucial families have access to quality early childhood education, because this project has a really important role to play in the future of New South Wales."
