THE shock eviction of the Willows Nursery by the trustees of the Bramshott War Memorial Recreation Ground Trust forced them to hold a public meeting on Monday.

Angry scenes developed during the hour-long meeting at the Haskell Centre, on Midhurst Road, where numerous parents and residents were ready to voice their grave concerns.

Despite heated debates, no satisfactory solution could be found and The Willows Nursery owners are facing the same dilemma as they did nine months ago, when the threat of eviction first came to light.

Residents called for immediate action by the trustees to allow the Willows Nursery to carry on, as well as for the resignation of those who had made the decision to evict them.

Michael Croucher, chairman of the trustees, came under fire for delaying the decision until it was too late for the Willows’ owners to take action and look for alternative premises.

Mr Croucher declined to reveal who had written to The Charity Commission for advice – or to reveal the names of all the trustees, who had made the unanimous decision to close the Beacon building.

But trustees must be parish councillors first and foremost – and the recreation ground is managed by the parish council’s recreation committee on behalf of the trust.

Antony Groves, the former parish clerk, said there is no recreational restriction on buildings – only on the land which is for recreational use only.

The meeting was headed by Jane Ives and supported by Jeanette Kirby, both trustees, who had voted in favour of the Beacon building being demolished, as did Barbara Easton, another trustee.

Mrs Ives explained that since last November, and until recently, the trustees were going to give The Willows a lease – which was passed on to the parish council’s legal advisers in April.

She stated the sole charitable object of the charity was allowing recreation on the Recreation Ground and in order to allow The Willows, which is a private business, a long lease for the Beacon building and to be compliant with the object of the trust, competitive bids would have to be obtained, a tender process would have to be observed, and all requests would have to be considered to determine what is best for the trust.

According to Mrs Ives, this was only discovered in July which meant it was too late to go through the process, thus making the building uninsurable – and the decision was taken for it to be demolished at the earliest opportunity.

She clarified that the rent The Willows has paid over the last 14 years, totalled more than £64,000, and was inclusive of gas, electricity, water and other services.

Mrs Ives said: “There is no future use for the building other than plans to demolish it. The executive officer has written to The Willows in good faith, stating what was happening.

“The decision to demolish the building was taken very quickly when the position was clear.

“We are trying to resolve this and find alternative accommodation for the Willows.”

She also stated another meeting with the owners of the nursery has been scheduled for the end of this week.

Mrs Kirby, a registered child minder, confirmed it was not an easy decision for the trustees to come to, and that the main decision was about the building.

She said: “We fully support The Willows and pre-school education and are trying to find alternative premises.

“I myself am a big supporter of pre-school education.

“I have been in contact with Hampshire County Council – also with regard to the new houses being built and children’s needs for nursery and school places.

“We are not closing The Willows, we are just closing the building.

“We truly want to keep everything running, we will have a Neighbourhood Plan - which is not just about houses, but also about nursery places.”

Mr Groves pointed out The Willows had a hire agreement for the building on the basis they did not use it all the time, which left it free for recreational use

He claimed the charity commission never complained about this solution while he was parish clerk.

Members of the public questioned the trustees over why there was no money left over from the rent the nursery had paid over the last 14 years – even after bills had been deducted, which could be put toward repairing the building,

They also claimed it had not been maintained by the trust properly.

Mrs Kirby stated she could not give a definitive answer since trustees were responsible for the whole of the recreation ground – not just the Beacon building – and all income, from all the other users, goes into maintaining the whole of the recreation ground.

She stated it was the trustees’ decision to look at the building – not at The Willows - and that there had been “no discussion, no meeting, no agreement” – to have anything else there.

Mrs Ives added the trustees were not informed of the legal situation until July and repeated the recreation ground was for the benefit of the whole community.

“We have to consider the whole community,” she said.

“The trustees have a responsibility for the whole community.”

Suggestions to have a temporary building like a Portacabin on the land, which could be hired by the nursery on a monthly basis and possibly subsidised, were met with reservations by the trustees.

Mrs Kirby said putting up a Portacabin would be a matter of further research, which could be considered change of use and other sports activity clubs would have to be consulted and informed and allowed to put their comments in.

This would take weeks if not months to sort out, Mr Croucher warned.

Parish councillor Thea Jourdan pointed out the survey carried out in August last year did not state the building had to be demolished.

“I can’t understand why it has to be demolished at all,” she said.

Her suggestion that the trustees should simply give The Willows an extension for another year was met with thunderous applause by members of the public.

If the owners of The Willows paid for the repair to be carried out, she added, with some funding of £12,000 by Hampshire County Council already in place, the building would be insured and habitable.

There should be a claw-back scheme in place for one year and the agreement should roll-over.

Robin Locke, the builder who was due to carry out the required work on the Beacon building during the summer months, pointed out that subject to repairs being done – the building already had full insurance cover in place which is being provided by The Willows’ owners.

District councillor Angel Glass stated that at present the building was not in a fit state, but if the required £30,000 was spent on repairs to make it habitable, then there was no problem to move forward, since the nursery has already occupied the building for the last 14 years.

She told the meeting: “If they have invested the money there is no reason not to give permission – as there are no other places available.”

Mr Croucher argued that if other recreation groups wanted to use the building, the trustees would have to consider it and a possible option could be the Scouts and Guides Hall at the Millennium Centre,

But that venue had been declared unsuitable by the nursery owners who had already looked into it.

Mrs Ives pointed out the decision would have to be made by all the trustees.

“We do care about the nursery and would like to find a solution,” she said.

“The Willows should make their suggestions to the trustees who will be at the meeting later this week, but we may not be able to resolve this quickly.”

However, the owners of the nursery need a decision now and have confirmed that provided they can stay, the work required on the Beacon building can still be carried out by September.

Upset mums have launched an online and paper ‘Save the Willows’ petition, which so far have been signed by several hundred supporters.