Showing posts with label Treetops Nursery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Treetops Nursery. Show all posts

Monday 30 April 2012

Private bidder to take over Treetops Nursery


The Save Treetops Nursery Facebook page is reporting that Brent Council has officially  accepted a private bid to run the nursery.  The nursery was designated for closure along with the Harmony nursery but parents swiftly organised a public campaign to keep it open.

An on-line petition to save both Treetops and Harmony gained 235 signatures.

 When the Council were adamant that they were not willing to fund the nursery the parents successfully campaigned for additional time to put a bid together themselves but encountered difficulty in raising the necessary funding

The takeover by a private company obviously raises the issue of affordability of fees as well as how the parents, who have been so involved and committed, will be represented in the new set up.

Meanwhile on Saturday Cllr Ann John leader of Brent Council will be at Harmony Children's Centre, where the Council closed the nursery, to present certificates to parents who have taken part in the 12 week, Strengthening Families, Strengthening Communities (SFSC) course.

I leave it to readers to decide whether Ann John herself would deserve an award for her work in strengthening families and strengthening communities.



Monday 13 February 2012

Public frustration at lack of answers at Brent Executive

Cllr Ann John lost her cool at tonight's Executive Meeting after residents who had made representations on Treetops Nursery and the proposed Willesden Library Centre had left the committee rooms at Brent Town Hall.

Cllr Ruth Moher had been reading, inaudibly, a report on Adult Social Care and procurement of a framework for short break for carers. Chairing the meeting Cllr John had told her that she did not need to read out  the recommendations as councillors could read them for themselves then broke off to say:  "But that's not to say that this isn't important. This, safeguarding and the budget  are important things but I don't see people coming to talk about them. We weren't political at all tonight. Maybe we should have been.  People come for the small things, trying to hang on to what they've got, but they don't care about these things which will affect more people.  The poor people of Brent will be a lot poorer because of this government.".

The meeting began with a representation about Treetops Nursery where the council will consider it being taken over by a private provider. This was followed by a series of presentations about the Willesden Green Cultural Centre project, the fate of the Willesden by library campaigners  to provide study space during the closure period at Preston library at little cost to the council.

Residents criticised the poor consultation over the Willesden Regeneration which only saw 12 people and the ward councillors involved in the first round.One speaker accused the council of being in hock to the developers and failing to represent the interests of local people as the client in the partnership. Suggesting it was a 'done deal' another said that there were a lot of angry people who wanted their voices hard and warned that at the next election these people could make a difference when voting turn-out was so low. A local GP described the information on the council website as 'platitudes and fluffy aspirations and called for detailed and substantive plans to be published. It appeared that the future of the community was being decided by developers and not the elected local council. Another resident criticised the haste involved and called for the signing of the developer agreement to be delayed so that local people could mull over the proposals and  have a calm consideration of the issues.

Cllr Paul Lorber speaking on the motion from Scrutiny echoed previous contributions, particularly those dealing with consultation and said that he had failed to get answers from officers on the cost of refurbishment of the present building.  He drew attention to the fact that the interim arrangements for the 18 month period of closure had a budget of £2.1m and opening the closed libraries for that period would be cheaper.

Ann John from the chair had commented on several of the speeches from residents and prompted Cllr Crane, lead member for Regeneration and Major Projects about questions he needed to address. Unfortunately Cllr Crane began to read sections of the Officers' Report rather than answer the questions raised by the public and heckling began as the audience became more frustrated. Ann John in turn got irate with the public and even cited me as a model of decorum!

Cllr Crane repeated previous statements bout the unfitmess of the current building, the impossibility of finding tenants for the cinema and the bar, the unaffordable cost of refurbishment. He said that the Willesden Bookshop was valued but 'at the end of the day it is a commercial entity' .  He said that the word 'consultation' was sometimes misused ("By you!" - public cry)and that the initial small group discussions a limited consultation' was only to get ideas to put to potential developers. He said that thorough consultation would start now and there would be a 3-4 month discussion with Galliford Try the developer partner. Andy Donald, the lead officer for the project, confirmed that the developer agreement had not yet been signed, and that there would be further consultation before the project went to planning committee in July. Neither mentioned the apparent fact that the exclusion of the bookshop from the Cultural Centre and demolition of the 1894 Victorian Willesden Library would not form part of these 'consultations'.

When Councillor Powney opined that the Bookshop would not want to be relocated twice, during rebuilding and then moving into the Cultural Centre, the public shouted "Have you asked them?" In fact supporters of the Bookshop said the owner said he would be happy with two moves if it meant getting located in the new Centre. Cllr Powney then said that it would be such a high quality development that retail space within it would be too expensive for the bookshop. Responding to my claim that there were no meeting rooms in the list of 'key components' the council wanted in the Cultural Centre, something essential for local democracy, he said that there were. It turned out that Andy Donald's developer language had run away with him and that the  'Three Creative Cluster Spaces which will be fitted out to facilitate an array of artist and cultural programming" were in  fact meeting rooms. I don't really think Cllr Powney can really blame me for not being able to translate that into plain English!

The Executive then voted to approve all the officers recommendations and Cllr John said that the council would now go ahead and sigh the developer agreement.

The budget and its 28 recommendations involving major cuts across services was approved following a three minute introduction by Muhammed Butt and councillors declining Ann John's invitation to ask questions. The budget including the damaging cuts itemised elsewhere on this blog will now go to Full Council on February 27th.. Other items including the closure of Harmony Nursery and increases in council rents were also approved.

Wednesday 8 February 2012

Brent Labour to close two day care nurseries

Continuing its unique method of caring for young children and supporting working women,  Brent Executive will be voting to close two of its nurseries on Monday February 13th  if it follows the recommendations of its officers' report:
Recommendations
That members agree
2.1 That Willow nursery be restructured to enable further provision for children with a wide range of disabilities, while retaining its character as a mainstream nursery
2.2 That Council- run day care services at Harmony Children’s Centre be closed from 30 March 2012
2.3 That Council-run day care services at Treetops Children’s Centre be closed from 20 July 2012
2.4 That the building used for nursery services at Harmony Children’s Centre be used to facilitate expansion of Mitchell Brook School in the event that a decision is made to expand the school.
2.5 That officers invite proposals from private, voluntary and independent providers for use of the space at Treetops Children’s Centre as a nursery, expected to be independent of and at no cost to the council, any such proposals to be considered on their merit.
2.6 That the decision on whether to proceed with any such proposal in 2.5 above to use the space at Treetops Children’s Centre, be delegated to the Directors of Children & Families and Regeneration & Major Projects, in consultation with the Lead Member for Children & Families
That members note
2.7 That if the space at Harmony Children’s Centre is not used for the purpose identified in 2.4 above that it will be used or disposed of in accordance with the relevant funding requirements and council policies, and
2.8 That, if a decision is taken not to proceed with proposals received under paragraph 2.5 above, the space inside Treetops Children’s Centre no longer used for nursery services, be used to expand the core functions of the Centre.
 It should also be noted that the Budget Report, also to be considered on Monday,  contains a proposal to review Children's Centres.

Saturday 4 February 2012

Executive recommended to close Treetops and Harmony nurseries

The Brent Executive will consider the following officer recommendations at its meeting on February 13th:

That members agree
2.1 That Willow nursery be restructured to enable further provision for
children with a wide range of disabilities, while retaining its character as a
mainstream nursery
2.2 That Council- run day care services at Harmony Children’s Centre be closed
from 30 March 2012
2.3 That Council-run day care services at Treetops Children’s Centre be closed
from 20 July 2012
2.4 That the building used for nursery services at Harmony Children’s Centre
be used to facilitate expansion of Mitchell Brook School in the event that a
decision is made to expand the school.
2.5 That officers invite proposals from private, voluntary and independent
providers for use of the space at Treetops Children’s Centre as a
nursery, expected to be independent of and at no cost to the council, any
such proposals to be considered on their merit.
2.6 That the decision on whether to proceed with any such proposal in 2.5
above to use the space at Treetops Children’s Centre, be delegated to the
Directors of Children & Families and Regeneration & Major Projects, in
consultation with the Lead Member for Children & Families

Wednesday 9 November 2011

Brent Nursery Closures Will Force Us To Pay Double



From Today's Evening Standard

Parents today told of their fears for affordable childcare if plans to close two council-run nurseries go ahead.
They claim that hundreds of children could be left without nursery places. 


Parents at Treetops Children's Centre in Willesden said they were given eight weeks to come up with a business plan to run the nursery from March - or face paying more than twice as much for private childcare.
Treetops has about 50 children on its books and 100 on a waiting list. Also set to shut is Harmony Centre in Neasden. 


Brent council said it was consulting on closing the centres because of "huge" government funding cuts. It claimed the nurseries are predicted to make a total loss of more than £250,000 for 2011/12. 


The council is also consulting on a further nursery, Willow, which could be restructured, taking children with disabilities and some children with special needs.


Parents in the borough say that many of them, especially single mothers, will be forced to give up jobs and go on to benefits because of a shortage of affordable nursery places. While Treetops costs £33 a day, other local nurseries are said to cost up to £70.


Charlotte Sones, whose one-year-old daughter Margot attends Treetops, is leading a campaign to save the centre. Mrs Sones, a 39-year-old writer and telesales worker from Harlesden, said: "I feel sick to my stomach about it, it's keeping me awake at night. 


"One, because the council have forced a group of parents into the position of having to save a nursery, and two, having the trauma of potentially having to move a child who has been there since she was seven months old." Charlotte Schilcher, an event manager from Harlesden, has two children, Alfie, six, and Betsy, one, who have both attended Treetops. 


She said: "Parents are really worried and nervous about the future and their children. These are the things that are directly affecting families in this area." Parents have until December 14 to submit plans to run Treetops, which is set to close on March 23rd. 


Brent council's head of early years and integrated services, Sue Gates, said: "We can't afford to carry on as we are now. There's lots of alternative childcare provision locally so families shouldn't face any problem finding a suitable place for their child and, if these proposals are agreed, we will help them to make alternative arrangements."

Monday 31 October 2011

How I Saved Our Local Nursery


This is a guest post on UK Uncut by Lucy Reese, mother of Angus (6), Stanley (2) and Max (6 months)
A few years ago, like all good New Labour voters, I was obviously all for public services, but other than the bins and the NHS had very little need for them. Then I had kids. And everything changed. I’d always worked and was determined to do so after I had kids. My job as a TV producer paid quite well, but even so forking out nearly £400 a week in childcare – for a fairly bog standard private nursery – was pretty eye-watering. It was much more than my mortgage. By the time my lovely son was two and a half I knew I couldn’t carry on working the hours I did without going completely bat-shit mental. A ghastly programme about The Spice Girls was the tipping point. I had no work life balance and had to change the way I worked.

Fortunately, by this time my son had moved to a brilliant council run nursery called Caversham Children’s Centre, in Kentish Town, North London. I loved everything about it and it was affordable – the fees were about half what we’d been paying before. It gave me the breathing space to work out how I could change direction. I found I could do some TV stuff from home and also began to pick up work in F.E colleges, which I loved. I had another baby, started a PGCE and got more hours in the college. Throughout all these changes the nursery was a constant – our second boy went there too.

Since both my husband and I are self employed – he makes websites – we can’t afford to turn down work just because it doesn’t fit in with school holidays. I got work teaching summer schools so we started using the brilliant holiday play schemes run out of Camden Square Playcentre. It may sound cheesy, but these services are like extended family for millions of people like us. We can’t plead abject poverty, but to keep working, we need good quality affordable childcare. We want to spend some time with our kids and provide them with emotional security – we just couldn’t do this and pay private sector childcare fees.

Fast forward to the 2010 election. THEY got in and I remember saying to my husband that I reckoned the nursery and the playcentre would be for the chop. People like Cameron have never needed public services and think only lazy scroungers use them. By the end of 2010, it was announced that the playcentre would close in 2012 – then we found out in January of this year that the nursery would be closing in August.

When I got the letter about the nursery closing I burst into tears. Pregnant and hormonal, I just couldn’t handle the news. But I refused to go down without a fight. Fortunately all the other parents felt the same and to cut a long story short we worked together and although the nursery did close in August, it has recently reopened as the Caversham Community Nursery after we convinced the council to transfer management to a local community association.

The campaign was draining and involved dozens of meetings, hassling local councillors, standing in the street outside the Co-op and making a series of deputations to Camden Council. I gave birth in the middle of the campaign – baby Max has been to more council meetings than you could care to mention, both in and out of the womb.

So why did the campaign work? First off, we decided to work with our local Labour councillors, rather than harangue them for closing the nursery. We also pooled our skills. One of our group was a management consultant and produced an amazing business plan. Another mother is a PA and a brilliant organizer – with access to free printing facilities for leaflets! I used my contacts in local politics and media and gave the campaign focus with a Facebook group. The group’s leader, another TV producer, created amazingly convincing documents and sat up till the early hours refining our deputations to the council. It was bloody hard work but it paid off and though the process was at times frustrating, it was also incredibly empowering and shows what can be done if you work collectively. It made me understand the importance of local government and the experience has made me keen to stand as a local councillor – something that previously would have had about as much appeal as drinking a bucket of cold sick.

I’m now back on the campaign trail again and have started an action group to save Camden Square Playcentre – yes, it is just down the road from the Amy shrine. This is a truly amazing place that provides holiday play schemes, after school clubs, breakfast clubs and under 5s drop ins. Black kids play with white kids, posh kids play with poor kids and disabled kids play with able bodied kids. The brilliant staff are trained in everything from child protection to child psychology – the idea that they could be replaced by some “Big Society” volunteers is frankly insulting. The playcentre keeps single parents off benefits and keeps stay at home mums with toddlers sane. It gives boisterous six year old boys somewhere to let off steam after school and kids in wheelchairs the chance to make friends with kids from mainstream schools. If this sounds like utopian bullshit, sorry, but it’s the kind of service that actually makes the world a better place.

We’ve had our first meeting and are hopeful that there is a chance that we can do what we did with the nursery and get a voluntary sector provider to take over the running of the service.

Please sign our petition - http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/save-camden-square-playcentre.html - we still need all the help we can get. Thank you for reading.

This post represents the views of the writer and does not necessarily reflect my views or those of Brent Green Party. It is posted as clearly of great interest in light of the closure plans for Treetops and Harmony nurseries.