THE Willows Nursery School is closing its doors for good – one year after being evicted from premises they occupied at Liphook recretion ground for 15 years.

Willows owners Jackie Finlayson, Jill Cooke and Jannice Bowley issued a statement confirming the closure this week.

It read: “It is with great sadness the Willows Nursery School has had to inform its parents and carers it will be closing down in July.”

“Last autumn, Bramshott and Liphook Parish Council allowed the Willows to operate from the Canada Room in the Millennium Centre, but made it very clear this was only a temporary arrangement for one year, which is due to expire in July.

“Despite extensive searching by us, as well as Hampshire children’s services, it has not been possible to find any premises locally which would be suitable for running a pre-school facility.

“We therefore have no alternative but to close the nursery. We would like to thank all the parents and carers past and present for the support they have given us over more than 20 years working in pre-school education in Liphook as well as all the wonderful children that we have had the pleasure to care for and nurture during this time.”

The Willows was evicted from premises in the recreation ground by the trustees of the Bramshott War Memorial Trust last summer – despite offering to fund any repairs needed to the building. Since then, the building has stayed empty.

The trustees claimed after consulting the Charity Commission, the deeds did not allow for nursery education provision on the site.

Last July, a statement was issued by the parish council which stated: “The trustees have considered the options for the Pavilion building, which has housed The Willows pre-school for a number of years, under the annual licence arrangement.

“The parish council is the corporate trustee and as such they have to comply with charity law and uphold the objects of the trust laid down by the original benefactors.

“The key consideration for the trustees has been the trust was set up to support only recreational activities for the whole community on the Bramshott War Memorial Recreation Ground.

“Although The Willows management were willing to pay for repairs to the building they would require a long-term lease. On advice from the Charity Commission this could not be done within the terms of the current deeds as they do not allow for nursery education provision.

“The trustees were mindful of the building being uninsurable in its present condition and with much regret the decision has been made to close the building with immediate effect and start demolition at the earliest opportunity.”

Following the parish council statement, local resident Shauna Horsley wrote to the Charity Commission for clarification and received a reply which contradicted the statement made by the trustees and the reasons given for the move.

The Charity Commission wrote back saying: “You may be aware the charity has contacted the Commission to establish whether the trustees had the power to grant a lease of the building to a nursery.

“I advised the trustees they could do so assuming that building occupied a very small part of the overall recreation ground and so, by granting such a lease, the charity would still be able to allow the majority of the land to be used for recreational purposes.”

Former parish clerk Tony Groves, who helped to set up the agreement between The Willows, the trustees and the parish council, told The Herald that the letter from the Charity Commission was entirely clear and that the trustees were advised they could have a lease with The Willows. 

“The building can be used for nursery provision – it would not matter what sort of arrangement was drawn up whether it be a hire agreement, licence, or lease,” he said. “The Charity Commission clearly has no issue with this. The deeds only refer to the land and providing nothing interferes with the use of that land for recreational purposes then there is no issue.

“In addition, The Willows used the Recreation Ground for the children to play on in accordance with the deeds.”

The parish council defended its decision to evict the nursery from the Pavillion building, but councillors did agree to the hire of the Canada Room from last autumn to the end of the academic year in a few weeks’ time, at a reduced rate.

But they refused a request for an extension beyond July 2016, stating the Millennium Centre was a community facility and should be for the benefit of the community users and was not suitable for housing a pre-school.

Nursery co-owner Mrs Cooke is taking the opportunity to retire, while Mrs Finlayson and Mrs Bowley have both decided to carry on working as registered childminders. They can be contacted on 07765 675175.