Plea to start £1.8m nursery expansion

Now heads at Old Sarum Nursery are reaching out to civic and developer bosses in a last-ditch attempt to start the project of a five-classroom sister school, which would secure places for up to 200 more children in the area.

The plans, the school’s chair of governors Natalie Moss says, were set to be completed by September, in time for the new school year.

But this has now been thrown into doubt, with local families at risk of being left without school places for their children.

Old Sarum Nursery – holder of an "Outstanding" Ofsted report – already caters for around 130 children from Old Sarum, on the northern edge of Salisbury, but the school says that demand has outstripped places due to more than 800 houses recently being built in the area, along with a further 750 built, or in development, nearby.

As a result, the school’s leadership team developed a plan with the council to expand the school, and approached developer Persimmon Homes, whilst also securing a £666,000 government grant.

Persimmon agreed to match the funds, and more recently increased its pledge to £1.2 million, while the nursery has already spent more than £80,000 to meet planning requirements.

But, earlier this year, talks between Persimmon and Wiltshire Council stalled amid a series of disagreements.

Now, Mrs Moss, and Wiltshire councillor for Old Sarum Ian McLennan, have called on the two bodies to resolve their differences, before the government grant expires later this year, which would kill the plan off entirely.

“In September, the community will have lost accommodation for about 70 three- to five-year-olds and toddlers – all of whom have had places at a far cheaper rate than any commercial nursery because we are a charity and our rates try to reflect what the government pays per hour for each child,” Mrs Moss said.

“It was the council that approached us in the first place to apply for a government grant dedicated to approved nursery schools to serve the new development at Longhedge and to cope with the increase from 15 to 30 hours free places for working families.”

Cllr McLennan said: “Unless Wiltshire Council and Persimmon finalise their negotiations swiftly, the children of Old Sarum, Longhedge and other nearby Salisbury communities will be the losers. They’ve had nearly three years: Get on with it!”

A spokesperson for Persimmon Homes Wessex, said: “Persimmon supports the proposed scheme. We will continue to work with the council and the nursery school to explore how we can work together to deliver the scheme.”

Wiltshire Council did not respond to request for comment.