Mitcham parents protest closure of Lavender Nursery

By Tara O’Connor, Local Democracy Reporter

A nursery in Mitcham could soon close down for good because the council wants to build a specialist school for vulnerable children.

Dozens of parents and children are calling on Merton Council to reconsider and keep Lavender Nursery open.

Some parents and children put up ‘Save Our Nursery’ signs outside the nursery.

And due to the lockdown, instead of gathering in protest at the site in London Road, others took pictures of themselves with their homemade signs.

The council says there has been an increase in secondary school children with mental health problems.

Some of the most vulnerable are educated at Melbury College which is based in a temporary home in Morden.

The council is looking to move the specialist educator to the site of Lavender Nursery in London Road.

A consultation on the proposal is currently open and would mean the nursery closing for good in August this year.

Lilia Sanguano is one of the parents that does not want to see the nursery closed down.

She was hoping to send her daughter Lucia to the nursery this April and her eldest daughter Laura, now four, also attended the nursery.

The 43-year-old from Mitcham said: “It is one of the best nurseries in the area, when I sent my older daughter there she was only speaking Spanish, they supported her and when she finished she spoke great English, they taught phonics and she knew how to write her name.

“I really don’t know what I’ll do for my youngest daughter now, I will need to find something else for her but it is very short notice.”

This year has been tough for many parents having to homeschool their children while working from home.

And Lilia says this is another reason she is so keen for her daughter to start nursery soon.

Not being able to attend any baby groups for a year means Lucia has not had the chance to interact with other children.

She said: “My daughter is nearly two and because of Covid she hasn’t had much interaction with other children so I was really hoping I could send her to nursery so she could get talking more and having relationships.”

The nursery is the family’s closest and Lilia is concerned that she will not be able to find another local one.

Lavender Nursery currently had 80 part-time places for two year olds eligible for free nursery education, and 48 full-time all-year-round places for children between two and four for fee-paying families.

The proposal would mean the fee-paying provision closing and the other 80 children would be found alternative nurseries.

In the consultation, Merton Council said: “The council has limited resources and therefore needs to make sure it can provide for this need from within its existing building stock rather than through new build.”

Merton Council’s Joint Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Children and Education, councillor Eleanor Stringer, said:

“We are currently holding a public consultation on proposals to expand Merton Medical Education Services. As the number of secondary school pupils increases across the borough, there is a growing need for these vital services, which include mental health support. Merton Medical Education Services has outgrown its previous premises on the Melbury College site in Canterbury Road, Morden, and is currently operating from a temporary base.

“The Lavender Nursery site in London Road is the proposed location for a new, permanent home for Merton Medical Education Services from September.

“In recent years, the number of children aged under five living in Merton has continued to decrease and this means that there has been less demand for nursery places. Some children who currently attend Lavender Nursery will be leaving to start primary school in September and the 80 council-run places for two-year-olds will be transferred to nearby children’s centres. We will help families of the other children to find alternative places nearby in private independent/voluntary sector nurseries, with childminders or in school nursery classes.”

Pictured top: Lilia Sanguano and her daughters