Complicated childcare funding arrangements and paperwork are "beyond reasonable" for any community-based organisation, Greater Hume Council says.
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Volunteer committees of management for both Holbrook and Culcairn childcare centres have now handed over operations to the council, with the latter "overwhelmed" by regulatory obligations.
Corporate and community services director David Smith will begin to transition the Culcairn Early Childcare Centre into Greater Hume Children Service's existing operations after councillors approved the move on Wednesday.
"What's transpired here is not necessarily unexpected; we've been working with the committee for almost 12 months, in relation to bolstering their governance capabilities and they've certainly done their utmost to keep going," he said.
"These days, I think it's unfair to expect a volunteer management committee to be running a childcare service.
"The level of complexity, the level of regulation, the responsibility on the committee to run a childcare centre has just got to the point now it is beyond reasonable.
"A number of the committee at Culcairn don't have any children at the centre and haven't had any children at the centre for some time; they are on a committee purely and simply out of the desire to keep the centre operating.
"But a time has to come when they say, 'I've done my bit', and unfortunately, there just isn't the capacity and willingness of people to come forward and take their place."
Mr Smith said without council taking over, the service would discontinue, and this would discourage families from moving to Culcairn.
"Given the capacity that we have and the technical expertise that we have, I think it's incumbent on council to transition the service, in the way we've done with the other services in Henty, Walla and Holbrook, and embed it within Greater Hume Children Services," he said.
"The committee has agreed to stay on until June 30 ... we'll have a few months to get our ducks in a row."
Councillor Annette Schilg said it was important to maintain facilities in Culcairn.
"I've heard there's younger families that have started to move, with the exodus out of cities," she said.
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"There's a few more people moving into Culcairn, with the pricing and to have some fresh air and sunshine."
Cr Parker added there were "no blocks of land for sale and no houses for sale" in Holbrook, however Cr Tony Quinn noted there were vacant blocks at Walla which hadn't attracted buyers in "12 to 15 months".
