Parents of 82 children at a private nursery school in St Andrews feel as if they have been “kicked in the teeth” after it emerged they have less than four weeks to find new nursery accommodation for their children.
The devastating news was announced on Wednesday to parents of children at the Wonder Years Nursery, which is to be demolished to make way for a multi-million-pound student residence and a new nursery that will not be available until 2015.
Seven staff will lose their jobs although the nursery says “alternative employment options” are in place.
Last night, as a heated meeting between owners, staff and parents took place at the nursery next to East Sands, several parents contacted The Courier and accused the owners of reneging on a promise to provide alternative childcare during the construction phase.
Work on a major new student accommodation 135-room development at the site is expected to start within weeks after plans for it and a nursery building at East Sands were approved by Fife councillors on January 8.
Applicant Alumno Developments, which specialises in student accommodation, identified a strong demand among the town’s university population.
They say the new building will help ease continuing pressure on housing resources in the town.
But the angry parents who contacted The Courier said they had been told by Wonder Years that no interim nursery accommodation would be provided.
This has left parents with the difficult, if not impossible, task of trying to find alternatives in less than four weeks.
Father-of-three Ben Stuart, 38, an IT manager who has two children at Wonder Years, told The Courier he and his wife Louise, 35, were “gutted” at the news.
He spent Wednesday and Thursday desperately contacting the three other private nurseries in St Andrews hoping to find a place for his children but, with the parents of 82 others trying to do the same, he said there were no guarantees.
It was possible, he said, that his environmental scientist wife, who works in neuro-pathology at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, could be forced to give up work if they could not find a solution.
He said: “The owners of Wonder Years Nursery asked parents to support their sale of the land to allow the building to commence and provide a ‘brand new’ nursery.
“The owners have got their wish and are undoubtedly financially celebrating with the sale and eventual brand-new nursery.
“However, the owners have now announced to staff and parents that they are reneging on their promise to provide temporary nursery services for the children whilst the building work takes place.
“They have stated that they are no longer prepared to meet the cost to do this and the nursery will close in four weeks’ time.”
In a statement, Wonder Years Nursery said it was disappointed not to have been able to find suitable alternative accommodation for clients.
It said it had arranged a meeting for all parents to discuss the issue directly with them and are “working hard to identify alternative places in local nurseries for the children.”
“Alternative employment options are also in place for the seven staff affected by the temporary closure,”the statement added.
David Campbell, managing director of Alumno Developments, said it was a matter for the nursery owners.