Welcome—and a warning- over new nursery
Nancy Platts, Pavilion's Labour candidate, has welcomed the news that a popular children’s playgroup, housed in a temporary prefab at Fiveways for the last 34 years, is set to become a state of the art eco-friendly nursery with a new Sure Start centre.
Nancy Platts and David Lepper MP outside the Hollingdean children’s centre
A turf-cutting ceremony will be attended next Tuesday (2 March) by councillors as well as managers and founders of Fiveways play centre.
The new building, which will see a Sure Start centre opened that will cover the Preston Park area, is expected to open in September.
Nancy Platts said:
"Before I went into politics I worked at the Daycare Trust, the national childcare campaign, and I campaigned hard for a Sure Start children's centre in every community. To see this vision become a reality is what politics is all about. Labour has delivered on the ground for families and children and that's why I'm standing to be a Labour MP."
But she expressed concern that the city's Sure Start centres will come under threat if the Conservatives get into government.
"The Conservatives want to cut £200m from the budget- that means one in five children's centres, just like the one in Fiveways, would have to close its doors.
"Families need to take a close look at the Conservative-led council's budget, to be published this Thursday. There are suggestions they want to knock £600,000 off the Sure Start programme in Brighton and Hove, despite an increase in government funding to £1.1m.
"Families need to ask where the extra money is going and how long children and families will be able to enjoy these facilities."
