Eastcott Councillor, Paul Dixon, will be moving a motion at the January 21st Full Council Meeting calling on the Cabinet to take note of the views of parents and local people and not to close the Swindon Council operated children’s nursery.
The motion reads:
“This Council:
· Notes Cabinet’s proposal to close the Euclid Street Children’s Nursery
· Notes that this nursery is providing an income to the Council of £74K this year
· Notes that Cabinet are proposing to invest £175,000 on the maintenance backlog of the Highworth Recreational Centre in order to transfer the centre to another operator, yet are not proposing to make similar capital investment on the Children’s Nursery
· Requests the Cabinet Member for Children’s Services take note of the views of parents and local people who feel the Council should retain the nursery and the income the nursery generates.”
The Labour Councillor for Eastcott Ward, Councillor Paul Dixon, said:
“I’m moving this motion to highlight to all councillors the popularity of this children’s nursery in my ward and to show the inadequacies of this administration’s proposal.
This Children’s Nursery is making the Council £74K this year. In these challenging financial times you’d think they’d desperately want to keep a facility that is making it money. But with this council it never seems that simple.
Yes, there is a maintenance backlog at the nursery. But given that they are spending £200,000 on the maintenance backlog at the Highworth Rec Centre and they are spending £82K per year on the Plas Pencelli outdoor education centre, it is deeply unfair that they aren’t willing to keep the Children’s Nursery.
I feel desperately sad not just for the parents and toddlers but particularly for the staff who have run a good facility that is making the Council money and yet the Council’s administration are saying they’d rather spend money on other facilities that is losing the Council money just for their own political purposes.”