Staff and parents at a Brighton nursery threatened with closure will learn the latest proposals for its future in just over a week’s time.
A report is due to be published by Brighton and Hove City Council a week tomorrow (Monday 10 January) spelling out the options.
It comes after Councillor Mary Mears, the Conservative leader of the council, told a meeting last month that a formal consultation about the nursery would be extended.
One reason for this, she said, was to allow more time to consider the implications of the government’s new Localism Bill.
The bill has opened up the possibility of Bright Start being considered as a community asset that could be run by a consortium of parents, staff or other interested parties.
At the moment the council runs the nursery in Barrack Yard, off North Road, with a subsidy of £87,000 a year.
The report due out a week tomorrow is expected to set out the financial and legal implications for anyone wishing to run Bright Start as a community nursery.
Councillor Mears said: “There has been a high level of interest in the future of the nursery from parents and the wider community and a substantial business case has already been put forward by one parent.
“I hope others will come forward and engage constructively with the council about this opportunity to take Bright Start forward.”
The council’s cabinet member for children and young people, Councillor Vanessa Brown, will consider the report on possible options for the future of Bright Start on Monday 17 January.
Campaigners to save the nursery from closure have set up a website and Facebook page.
