Lancashire County Council confirmed that Greaves Park Nursery School will be replaced with a new amalgamated nursery school on the existing site of Willow Lane Nursery School, providing 80 part-time places along with a range of integrated services. A nursery class with 52 part-time places will also be developed at Bowerham Community Primary School. The new classes will operate from 1 September.
The decision - made five years after the council first mooted that it might close down Greaves Park because of falling birth rates - has provoked outcry from disappointed locals, who have campaigned to save it.
Juliette Aide, a parent governor, said, 'Everyone is devastated. It's an old building but it has a wonderful "outdoor classroom" with a summer house, a boat and fantastic wildlife. These facilities cannot be matched in Lancaster.'
The closure decision was made by the the Schools Organisation Committee, a local independent body made up of six representative groups from the education and faith sectors.
The committee was presented with a 350-signature petition from the Green Party last week, calling for the school to stay open.
Green Party spokesperson Matt Wootton said, 'I am appalled that the council has ignored the overwhelming support from parents and the wider local community for keeping it open. Clearly cost-cutting is the only thing that matters'.
Ian Warburton, a member of the early years and childcare team at Lancashire County Council, said the public had the opportunity to 'have their voices heard' throughout the consultation period last summer.
He said that out of the 26 maintained nursery schools in Lancashire, one is a designated children's centre; seven will become children's centres in April 2006; seven are linked to children's centres; and six are Neighbourhood Nurseries. He said, 'We are trying to encourage them all to become children's centres, but some might be outside the designated areas.'
Pauline Trudell, support headteacher to the Forum for Maintained Nursery Schools and Children's Centres, said, 'Had Greaves Park remained it could have become a children's centre in the next round. Whatever situation a nursery school is in, it still has the best potential and offers the best starting point for a children's centre.'
