Published: Friday, 19th March, 2010 10:58am

Village nursery gets lease of life

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The Village Nursery in West Linton

SCOTTISH Borders Council has thrown an embattled West Linton nursery a lifeline this week.

The Village Nursery has faced an uncertain future after the lease on their current premises in a hall owned by the Church of Scotland expired.

However the Church gave them a six month stay of execution to allow the pre-school facility extra time, and the nursery now has until to July to find a new home.

We revealed last year that private developer Tweed Homes hoped to build a new nursery as part of a development in the village - but wrangles have held up the process.

And the village's largest childcare facility yet again was facing an uncertain future.

But Scottish Borders Council have now stepped in to try and secure a site for the nursery in the grounds of the new West Linton Primary School.

The 0.1 hectare site within the school plot would allow for a purpose-built facility to be constructed.

Councillor Catriona Bhatia, Executive Member for Education, told the Peeblesshire News: "The talks regarding the nursery are at an early stage but we are cautiously optimistic that we have found a solution.

"The plans for the new school currently feature a designated 0.1 hectare site that has been put aside for The Village Nursery.

"I am actively pursuing this proposal as parents need certainty about their children's places for the coming school year. The site would provide an ideal location.

"Although there are a number of legal processes to follow, I am pushing for this to be decided as soon as possible."

The opportunity will come as welcome news to parents of the 100 or so children who are enrolled at the popular facility, which has been running for nearly 15 years.

There were fears last year that the nursery may have to close altogether after several proposed new locations failed to materialise. A parent action group, Nuts about Nursery, was formed in September 2008 to lobby politicians and councillors.

It is the largest nursery in the village and provides childcare for roughly 80 local families.

Construction on the new primary school is due to begin in May 2011 and is expected to open its doors to pupils in August 2012.

The Village Nursery stressed that the proposals were at an early stage and declined to comment.