Playgroup fights for its home

PARENTS are ready to fight to save their children s pre-school from closure after hearing that Uckfield Town Council is considering selling the hall it meets in.

Some parents have already visited the town clerk to express their concern, a petition has been drawn up and two mothers have written to the Sussex Express to say that there is no alternative accommodation for the group should the Foresters Hall site be sold to developers.

Little Acorns Pre-School opened in the Foresters Hall, Harcourt Road, ten years ago and is flourishing with a waiting list running into 2003.

One of the supervisors, Mrs Barbara Taylor, said she remembered that when the pre-school opened the Foresters Hall was hardly used because it was in such a dilapidated state. But three years ago it was refurbished and she couldn t understand why closure should be suggested now.

There were no other suitable premises in the town for Little Acorns. Somebody had suggested the Ashdown Room at the Civic Centre but they would not be allowed to use that for security reasons.

'This hall is ideal for us. The security is good, there are special child sized toilets, we have a huge storage room. There is nowhere else we can meet, said Mrs Taylor.

So far the pre-school has not been officially notified of the council s investigation into the possibility of selling the Foresters complex which also includes a chapel and flat.

'We were shocked when we read about it in the Sussex Express. We felt it must mean the end of the school, said Mrs Taylor.

But she said parents had rallied and were prepared to join a fight to save the hall if necessary.

Zoe McGarry and Janet Steers, who both have daughters attending the pre-school, wrote to the Sussex Express saying the group provided a high quality service for about 40 children and their families and had a dedicated and extremely experienced staff.

'If Little Acorns had to close down, most of the children would be unable to find pre-school places elsewhere in the town as other local providers are equally full, they wrote.

The council s facilities committee, which met on January 8, agreed to ask users of the Foresters complex whether, given six months notice, they would be able to find alternative accommodation.

They agreed that if there was an outcry it would be obvious the community wanted the hall to remain, if not, other options, including sale to developers, could be considered.