Families & Community Update

We want to provide you with a brief update on the status of the Mayday Hills lease and our ongoing efforts to secure the future of quality, community-run early years education in Beechworth.

Following the withdrawal of ACS from the EOI process in March, we have been awaiting direction from Indigo Shire Council as to next steps.

Our priority since the withdrawal of ACS has been to work constructively with Beechworth Kindergarten (BK) to find a solution that enables both of our valued services to continue, while also maximising the use of the Mayday Hills site to address the critical shortage of early years care. We have over 100 children on our waitlist, and enough babies on the waitlist alone to fill the babies room 3 times over. The need is huge and urgent.

To this end, we’ve engaged a local mediator to facilitate a respectful and solution-focused discussion between our two governance bodies. Unfortunately, the earliest date all parties were available is Sunday 22 June. While it appears Council had prepared a report and decision for the 24 June Council meeting, they are now waiting on the outcome of this mediation before progressing further. We know that all parties are entering this session in good faith, with the shared goal of ensuring the Mayday facility best meets the needs of local families.

Council has indicated that following an update on the outcome of mediation, they will convene a special meeting — rather than wait for the next scheduled Council meeting in late July — so that a timely decision can still be made. We are hopeful this special meeting will take place during the week beginning 30 June.

Should the mediation result in an agreed-upon path forward for both services, Council has indicated that outcome will be taken into account. However, if the parties are unable to reach a mutually acceptable resolution, Council has indicated it will proceed with its proposed plan for the site.

We welcome this commitment, but note that continued instability is having real impacts. Due to the uncertainty around the lease, BCEYLC has been unable to advertise for ongoing educator roles, and cannot, in good faith, promote our care and integrated kindergarten offering for 2026. This puts additional strain on our team and limits families’ ability to plan for the year ahead — at a time when demand for care has never been higher.

We continue to hope Council will show leadership and award the lease to BCEYLC — enabling urgent care needs to be addressed without further delay. A further deferral, or failure to act, would render the last 18 months of work by staff, families, and Council itself a wasted opportunity — and would leave the original problem unresolved.

In the meantime, we continue to plan for the future. Over the past few weeks, we have engaged a consultant to facilitate a series of strategic planning sessions for the board to help our Centre grow with purpose, strengthen governance, and meet the evolving needs of our community. We look forward to sharing and publishing our new Strategic Plan on our website in the coming weeks.

Thank you, as always, for your continued support. Your trust in us, and your belief in the value of locally-governed early learning, continue to guide everything we do.

Warmly,

The BCEYLC Board