Snap decision to close Edinburgh nursery should be reviewed, says councillor

A snap decision to close an Edinburgh nursery should be reviewed after parents and councillors were given conflicting information, according to a city councillor.

The Calderglen Early Learning and Childcare Centre in Wester Hailes was closed suddenly in late February, leaving parents scrambling.

Edinburgh Council has said the closure was due to a significant leak through the ceiling, and was made in the interest of safety.

A motion before Thursday’s full council meeting by SNP councillor Catherine Fullerton is now asking for more information on what happened with the centre.

In it, she notes that parents were told that the centre would need to be demolished, which ‘appears to differ’ from what councillors were told.

Cllr Fullerton adds that an informational note to councillors was only distributed after the decision to close the centre was already made.

She also notes that concern had been caused for parents through the process, and many families were left with ‘limited time’ for families to make childcare arrangements.

Parents learned at 4.30pm on the afternoon of Thursday, February 26, that the centre would be closed from Friday onwards.

One parent of a student at the nursery told Edinburgh Live: “We had no warning, no notice from the council.

“I think this is absolutely shocking, our kids have now been left without a nursery place and as you can imagine a lot of the mums are stressed.”

Cllr Fullerton’s motion is asking for officers to bring an ‘urgent and detailed’ report to the next education committee.

She wants it to include a timeline of how events transpired from the leak being detected to the decision being made to close the centre.

In addition, she wants it to outline what options were considered to deal with the issue, including if the centre could be salvaged, and what the costs of repair versus demolition are.

Further, she states that the report should spell out next steps from the situation, including childcare and early learning services for the affected children.

Children who were at Calderglen have been shifted over to alternative nursery arrangements since the closure.

Councillors will consider the motion at the full council meeting on Thursday, March 19.