Dubbo and District Preschool will be charged just $10 on their lease for the next decade.
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Dubbo Regional Council approved the continued lease of a block of land on the corner of Bultje and Hampden streets for the next ten years, with the option for a renewal of another decade.
The rent will be charged at $1 per annum.
Council director community service David Dwyer said the very low rent was part of council’s community service obligations to support preschool education.
The lease was approved by council administrator Michael Kneipp at the October ordinary meeting of council.
“Dubbo and District Preschool has been successfully operating from the premises for over 40 years,” Mr Kneipp said.
“The premises are built across two lots, one of which is owned by council, and a lease is required between council and the preschool to allow the NSW Department of Education to take out a mortgage over the lease as security for a grant for the preschool to construct extensions,” he said.
The expansion of the preschool is for two new classrooms, which will create an extra 60 childcare places.
To allow for the additional classrooms, the extension will take up part of Daphne Park. However, council said there would still be more than 5700 square metres of land available for public recreation, including a playground.
A previous expansion by Dubbo and District Preschool onto a portion of Daphne Park was completed in 1963, before the land was rezoned as Public Recreation
There were additional terms set on the approval, Mr Dwyer said.
“The preschool is responsible for all building and fixture repairs and maintenance, as well as utility costs such as gas, water electricity, and all insurance costs,” he said.
The preschool received a grant of $907,000 from the NSW government to allow it to build two classrooms and a staff room, and they had been awarded an interest-free loan of $91,000 to cover the costs of the rezoning application, development application and other fees.