Furious parents urge council to save ‘amazing’ North London nursery facing closure

London parents have hit out at “scandalous” plans to close a local nursery amid a dispute between its managers and the council over who proposed the shutdown.

For years Islington Council has commissioned the independent charity Islington Play Association (IPA) to run Paradise Park Children’s Centre Nursery and other adventure playgrounds in the borough. On Wednesday (May 20) the council said it had “reluctantly agreed” to close nursery provision at the end of the summer term.

The council said this was at the request of IPA, which was facing “significant financial challenges”. The move has sparked uproar among families using the service, who are pleading with the council to halt the closure.

Parent Jonny Singer said: “We feel pretty powerless. It just feels scandalous that a few days after being elected a Labour council will be shutting down an amazing community asset.

“The nursery staff are so caring and wonderful, and the quality of SEND [special educational needs and disabilities] care is fantastic here. If you uproot these children, that is going to do significant damage. It all just feels so unnecessary,” he said.

The council’s announcement came days after 29 staff employed at the nursery and several adventure playgrounds the charity operates were told their jobs were “at risk”. Though Paradise Park is slated for closure on July 22, the council has stressed that it is “working hard” to ensure all the council’s adventure playgrounds remain open.

Mr Singer has urged the council to meet with families to consider their proposals to keep the centre provision running. Staff members, many of whom are facing redundancy and wished to remain anonymous, have also called on the council to review a plan for a “peaceful leadership transition supported by experienced local early years charities.”

“This distress is unnecessary and entirely avoidable,” the group told the LDRS.

Though the charity has not denied having financial difficulties, it has rejected the council’s claim that the decision to close Paradise Park “originated with trustees”, and pushed back on “unfounded” allegations of financial mismanagement.

In a statement on May 22, IPA said it was grappling with rising costs including higher energy and repairs bills and “changes in national insurance contributions [and] the London Living Wage.”

IPA added that trustees were currently considering a “range of strategic options” for the charity, and it would continue to deliver nursery and playground services at present, with further updates “in due course.”

The local authority, meanwhile, has blasted IPA’s “failures” and for stoking parent and carers’ anxieties about the future of their children’s nursery provision. The council said it was supporting families throughout the process and reaching those affected to find suitable alternative childcare.