A proposed kindergarten for Papamoa East has been scrapped and those behind it are blaming this year's Budget. Tauranga Region Kindergartens principal Peter Monteith said funding cuts to early childhood education had seen the kindergarten proposal become "dead in the water". Any plans to build the kindergarten in Golden Sands Drive willnow have to be deferred, he said. It had been hoped the kindergarten - costing about $500,000 - would be open by early next year. Whether the site remains holdable will depend on other commercial propositions. The land would have been leased, and the kindergarten built on it would have been the 20th under the Tauranga Region Kindergartens umbrella. "This is sad news for parents and families in the Papamoa East area," Mr Monteith said. Mr Monteith said Tauranga Region Kindergartens will lose over $850,000 in annual funding as a result of the cuts to the 100 per cent funding rate of early childhood teachers. The Budget has done away with two of the highest bands of subsidy for childcare centres, effectively cutting funds to centres with more than 80 per cent of their staff trained. That's all kindergartens. "The Government's cuts in funding to high quality services such as kindergartens mean that we will not have sufficient money to build a much needed kindergarten in that area," Mr Monteith said. Market research showed that there were more than 50 families prepared to enrol children in a kindergarten in the Papamoa East community. There is also a waiting list of 90 at the next closest kindergarten, Papamoa Coast Kindergarten in Dickson Rd. Papamoa Free Kindergarten on Doncaster Drive, has 60 on their waiting list. Papamoa parents are being urged to enrol their children in kindergarten from birth as demand for services mushrooms. Mr Montieth said one of Tauranga Kindergartens' aims was to meet community need and it was disappointing. "We are always looking to provide services to meet community need, but the Government funding cuts have brought a halt to our plans."
