2022
Incorporating
Wednesday, April 26, 2023
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Sport
THE BIG DEBUT The first set of 2023 debutantes were presented at the Mansfield Golf Club on the weekend, with the second group to follow this Saturday from 6PM. (Top, from left): Lil Dean & Harry McCormack, Quinn Russell & Jack Berg, Charlotte Kearney & Max Watson, Ashlyn Riley & Archie O’Brien, Maddi Cavill & Julian Bruno. (Bottom, from left): Jess Andrews & Archie Storer, Daisy McDougall & Will Roberts, Jess Roberts & Drew Pullford, Emmeline Evans & Judah Kelleher. PHOTO: John Perri
MANSFIELD EAGLES WIN AGAIN
MACE holds onto Cubby MANSFIELD Shire Council has awarded the lease of the Mansfield Family and Children’s Centre (MFCC) to Mansfield Adult Continuing Education (MACE), who will continue to deliver early childhood education and care services at the 10 Davies Street property. The lease to MACE subsidiary and current operator Mansfield Community Cubby House was approved in last week’s Council meeting and will be for a term of five years with three options for a threeyear extension.
BY SAMUEL O’BRIEN sobrien@ nemedia.com.au
Mayor Councillor James Tehan said Council was pleased with the result of the tender process. “This is a great outcome for our community, for MACE, and the families who utilise Cubby House’s early childhood education and care services,” he said. “Council was committed to a thorough tender process to ensure fairness and value for Shire ratepayers, and we were
End of season
DEALS
delighted to award the lease to MACE.” Since August of 2014, MACE has leased the current Cubby House premises since the location was completed following a joint funding application between MACE and the Mansfield Shire Council to build the centre in 2004. It operates a not-for-profit community owned and managed childcare centre which also offers before and after school care and vacation programs. Many families raised their concerns in late March about the timing of process
as Council extended the tender submission period by a further two weeks. Many were worried about potential disruptions caused by a change in operator, especially as the location is currently running at capacity with an extensive waitlist. Mansfield local Laura Gosney told the Mansfield Courier in late March there was 80 families on the waitlist when she made the initial enquiry to enrol her son. “The repercussions [of the potential closure] will be felt across the shire,” she said. “It’s not just myself and
the other Cubby families who will be impacted, it’s the Cubby staff and their livelihoods. “How many businesses and industries in town have staff who rely on the Cubby?” Cr Tehan said the current lease had a “Holding Over” provision that would have allowed the current operator to continue while a potential transition occurred. He said the continuity of Cubby House’s services at the site was a positive outcome that would give certainty to families.
“We’re very happy to see that continue,” Cr Tehan said. MACE’s CEO Kylie Richards said she is also happy with Council’s decision. “MACE submitted a strong and comprehensive tender to Council based on a third-party valuation and with significant information demonstrating MACE has been a quality childcare provider over many years,” she said. “On behalf of all the staff at MACE, it will be an honour to continue to provide such a valuable childcare service to the Mansfield community.”
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