PLANS are in place to open a new pre-school nursery for children aged three to four on the church centre site, off Portsmouth Road, next September.

It will be known as the Ark Pre-School Nursery and has received the seal of approval from Hampshire County Council’s children services department.

Last summer, Liphook lost The Willows Nursery after a two-year fight following a parish council voteto condemn the Beacon building at the recreation ground – its home for many years, forcing children to relocate temporarily to the Millennium Centre, before it owners were forced to cloes it completely.

Rector Valentine Inglis-Jones (pictured) said: “I am really excited about our new venture. It comes at a time when we have been working out how we can further help our local community.

“Hampshire County Council approached us to see if our centre could be used as a nursery, because of the expected increase and demand for places through the new and approved housing projects within the parish.

“At that time a member of our congregation had a vision of us providing a Christian foundation pre-school nursery.

“It is exciting that proposals for remodelling our church centre, which now has planning permission from East Hampshire District Council, would also be a good fit with our plans for the new nursery.

“Our parochial church council has founded a charitable organisation foundation to run the nursery school in accordance with Christian principles and ethos.

“The nursery will be run as a non-profit making charity. This does not mean it will be exclusively for Christians, just as Liphook infant and junior schools are Church of England schools and admit pupils regardless of religion – so will our new nursery school.

“Central to our Christian faith, and to the intended ethos of the nursery, is the idea that we all thrive when we feel valued – whether as a child at school, a parent, or even a grandparent.

“As the trustees plan and appoint staff, this will be one of the key aspects of the new nursery school that we intend to fulfil.”

Rev Inglis-Jones added: “We have much to do before September 2017, including appointing staff and raising funds for our start-up costs.

“In the new year we will be inviting expressions of interest from parents who are considering sending their children to the Ark Pre-School Nursery.”

Church warden Paul Arnold put together the proposals for the refurbishment of the church centre, which was built originally in 1970, with the Ark added on in the mid-1980s and the chapel, link and kitchen extensions in the mid-2000s.

Mr Arnold was senior project manager for the Highways Agency involved in building the Hindhead Tunnel before he retired.

In 2013, a survery was carried out at the church centre and the Ark, which identified a long list of maintenance and refurbishment requirements to be improved over five years.

The energy efficiency of the centre is poor with single glazing and little roof insulation, while room dividers are difficult to handle and not very sound proof.

The survey showed the need had also arisen for more space for the children’s work on Sundays.

A feasibility study was carried out as to how an additional room could be added to the complex by filling the space between the centre and Ark in front of The Link and the parochial church council appointed a firm of architects last year to advise further.

They identified that redeveloping the entire site between the centre and Ark could provide two additional rooms, either side of The Link.

The room at the front would be a new chapel and the one behind would fill the space between the centre and the Ark.

The architects also showed how this could be achieved by phasing the required work into different stages.

Phase one would be refurbishing the Ark, phase two would see a new building in front of The Link between the centre and Ark and a refurbishment of the church centre, and phase three would require moving the chapel and creating a new large room to the rear of The Link.

The parochial church council decided phase three was not required at present, and that the chapel was still relatively new and should remain as it is.

But the parochial church council gave the go-ahead to seek planning permission for all three phases, which was granted by East Hampshire District Council in June.

According to Mr Arnold, the budget cost for phases one and two, prepared by a cost consultant, amounts to £485,000. Of this, £360,000 is required for the refurbishment, which includes double glazing, new entrance arrangements and re-roofing of the centre and installing appropriate levels of insulation, as well as other re-ordering of the layout of the rooms.

There is a five-year spending plan in place by the church council.

Urgent items requiring immediate attention are further inspections on fire safety, accessibility, asbestos and additional health and safety audits, as well as some small spends on the roof.

A fundraising appeal is due to start early next year.

The church centre welcomes hundreds of people each week and brings in more than £6,000 in lettings each year.

Details of the plans are on display at St Mary’s Church and at the church centre.

The parochial church centre hopes to improve the signage and also to rename the centre - making it closer to St Mary’s.

Suggestions are welcome and can be made via the church office 01428 725390.