Reapplying for funds for preschool

Arrowtown parent and architect of a proposed preschool in the town Juliet Pope says her group will go ahead with an application for funding from the Ministry of Education next month after a "fantastic" meeting with MP for Clutha-Southland and Deputy Prime Minister Bill English.

Parents were outraged last month after the ministry turned down their funding application following years of hard work securing resource consent and with architectural plans and builders all ready to go.

The group had applied for $784,000 to build a preschool catering for up to 60 3-year-olds on ministry land next to the Arrowtown Primary School.

With preschools in the Wakatipu closing rolls because of burgeoning demand, and population growth in Arrowtown, the preschool was urgently needed, Mrs Pope added.

After their funding was turned down the group requested a meeting with Mr English who, after initially asking them to meet him in Gore, arranged an hour-long meeting with the group in Queenstown last Thursday.

Mr English told the Arrowtown group he had issues around the transparency of the Education Ministry's discretionary grants scheme, which was now under review, and urged them to reapply in the April funding round.

Mr English told the Queenstown Times he felt the group had done an "impressive amount of work" and he was keen to work with them.

"I hope they are successful in the next round of funding. If not, we will have to look for alternative avenues."

Mrs Pope said the group now planned to submit a fresh application to the ministry.

"If the deputy prime minister tells us to, then we're going to reapply."

However, the group also needed updated information to support its case.

Since the application for funding last October, the preschool situation in Arrowtown had worsened.

Of 900 questionnaires the Arrowtown group distributed in Queenstown and Arrowtown community last week, 100 had already been returned, indicating children were waiting about six months longer for a place in early childhood education than they were last October, she said.

"Lots" more had now been waiting two years for a place.

"So in six months [since the last application] things have got worse. The growth is increasing."

She was still hoping for the return of another 200 to 300 questionnaires, left at various retail and education outlets in the Wakatipu, to provide updated information in support of next month's application.