Shropshire Star

Two Shrewsbury nurseries are given notice to quit

Parents of children at a Shrewsbury nursery that has been running for more than 40 years have been handed an eviction notice and told to quit the site in the new year.

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St Giles' Nursery , which has spaces for 20 children, has been in operation since 1969 and is in the grounds of Mereside Primary School in Springfield.

The nursery employs five members of staff headed by Sandra Laight.

Also on the site is another nursery, Kingfisher, the proprietor of which is Lisa Mills. The nursery has operated since 1995. It is understood the nursery has also been handed an eviction notice.

Late last year, the headmistress of Mereside Primary School, Elizabeth Holmes, approached both nurseries and said they were to merge in early 2014.

Staff at St Giles' were not happy with this and, along with parents of children in their care, approached Shropshire County Council to discuss what could be done to stop the process.

"We submitted detailed business plans on behalf of St Giles'," said John Holden, whose daughter Naimh attends the nursery. "We were told that Kingfisher had a preference based on sustainability, investment in staff training and an outstanding in an Ofsted report, which dated back to 2008.

"But we have been going for much longer than they have, we are full there are no sustainability problems with us and we offered a large financial investment to enhance learning facilities and enhance the forest schooling scheme.

"This is a great nursery - it just hasn't been given the opportunity to put its business plan forward and talk to those who make the decisions about these things."

An eviction notice has now been served on both of the nurseries by the school telling them they must quit their premises by the end of the year.

It is believed Kingfisher, which currently occupies another portacabin on the site and which has spaces for 26 children, will then move in to a classroom in the school while the St Giles' nursery building is renovated.

Sshop worker Kirsty Coombs, a 24-year-old mother of three, all of whom have attended the nursery, said: "We just want the nursery to stay as it is.

"It has been going for 45 years, my cousins came here and the teachers are great. It is a wonderful place. We had the choice to put our children in Kingfisher or in St Giles and we chose St Giles."

Accountant Kim Morris, 28, from Sutton farm and her mother Maria, 54, a family support worker for social services both believe the should stay.

"My son cried on his first day coming here and since that day he has loved it. The children are settled here. It will cause an enormous amount of upheaval for them if they have to move." Maria added: "We are actually considering whether my grandson will go on to Mereside when the time comes."

Laura Rowley, who lives in Mereside said she thought the proposed eviction would cause unnecessary disruption to the children at St Giles'. The 32-year-old said: "If it does close are they going to help us find new nursery places for our children? It is just not fair."

The group has now launched a petition against the eviction.

Ann Hartley, Shropshire Council Cabinet member for children's services, said: "The concerns raised have been taken up by Mereside CE Primary School and an open, transparent and – importantly – independent tender process has been set up.

"Mereside CE Primary's desire to move from two providers of on-site pre-school provision, to a single provider will be decided objectively and impartially by the evaluation panel in order to secure high quality early years provision for parents and their children in the local community."

The deadline for tenders for the running of the single nursery was today.

No one was available for comment from Merside Primary School and Ms Mills, of Kingfisher nursery, declined to comment.