In a push to address the growing demand for local childcare, Rachel Gilmour, MP for Tiverton and Minehead, is urging the Bishops Lydeard Parish Council to allocate an additional £50,000 towards the redevelopment of a nursery in the village. This call comes after the Parish Council’s Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Subcommittee recommended spending £100,000 on “fitting out” a new nursery facility at the old schoolhouse building in Bishops Lydeard.
During a meeting held at Bishops Lydeard Village Hall on 15th October, the Subcommittee agreed to recommend to the full council that the £100,000 be used to refurbish the building into a nursery space. The nursery, which will be run by Bishops Lydeard Church School, is seen as a vital service for local families who have faced difficulties accessing childcare in the village.
However, Rachel Gilmour is calling for an additional £50,000 to ensure the redevelopment project moves forward without delay. The Bath & Wells Multi Academy Trust, which manages the school, has committed to match-funding up to £150,000 in external contributions towards the project, which is expected to cost around £370,000 in total. Gilmour’s intervention seeks to make up the funding shortfall to ensure the project can get off the ground.
“We have an opportunity to provide much-needed nursery places for local children, and the funding is available,” Gilmour said. “The CIL Subcommittee’s recommendation is a good start, but an additional £50,000 is crucial to making sure this vital project goes ahead. We cannot afford to let this opportunity slip through our fingers.”
The redevelopment of the nursery has been delayed following an unsuccessful bid for Nursery Capital Grant funding from the Department for Education earlier this year. A second application is set to be submitted before the December 22nd deadline, this time with the backing of Gilmour, who has been an advocate for the project since her election.
For years, parents in Bishops Lydeard have been forced to seek childcare in nearby towns and villages due to a lack of local nursery places. This shortage is expected to worsen as the village faces potential expansion, with plans for an additional 130 homes on the western edge of the village, put forward by developer Cavanna Homes.
Local parent governor, Rebecca Wheatley, voiced frustration over the situation. “As a parent governor, I see how urgently families in Bishops Lydeard need local nursery places. Parents are being turned away while the Parish Council holds unspent CIL funds that were meant for exactly this kind of project,” Wheatley said. “The Bath and Wells Multi Academy Trust is ready to invest, but the nursery can only proceed if the Parish Council match-funds £150,000. This is a clear opportunity to deliver lasting benefit for our children and community. The funding exists – what’s needed now is the will to use it.”
The issue has stirred growing frustration within the community, as the Parish Council has been scrutinized for how it has allocated its CIL funds. In addition to the nursery redevelopment, the Council has allocated £60,000 of the CIL funding to a traffic consultancy firm based in Bristol for a “Roads and Traffic Project.” However, this project has been scaled down significantly, with plans now focused on a single “village gateway” project on Cothelstone Road, costing over £100,000. This has raised concerns that the funds, intended for community infrastructure, are not being used in the most effective way.
In response, Rachel Gilmour stressed the importance of supporting early years education. “When considering Somerset Council’s CIL Infrastructure Priorities, as well as the Education Places Strategy, it is clear that supporting early years provision should be a top priority,” Gilmour said. “This is a project that will have lasting benefits for the children and families of Bishops Lydeard.”
Gilmour also highlighted the potential benefits of the government’s national free childcare initiative, which could further assist local parents if the new nursery is developed. “Once again, I urge the Bishops Lydeard Parish Council to do the right thing, take the open goal, and earmark £150,000 to redevelop this vital piece of community infrastructure,” Gilmour added. “Just £50,000 of additional funding could get the development under way, benefiting children and parents in the village from as early as next September.”
As the December deadline for the Department for Education funding bid approaches, all eyes are now on the Bishops Lydeard Parish Council to decide whether it will allocate the additional £50,000 needed to kickstart this essential project.