ANGER has flared at the 11th hour loss of a £350,000 nursery planned for St Michael's Church of England School, Kingsteignton.
Teachers, governors and health professionals are up in arms at the shock decision by Devon Education Authority to withdraw funding for the 52-place nursery.
The announcement has come only weeks before work on the prestige project was due to start.
And, in a knock-on effect, a proposal by the school to spend around £85,000 on a new classroom next to the nursery has also had to be shelved.
'We are livid,' said Sarah Hall, a foundation governor of the school.
'We had got so far down the line, plans had been drawn up and work was to start in the summer.
'It's a real blow for the school, it's such a shock, coming out of the blue like that.'
The county education authority said that the plans have been dropped because the birth rate has fallen in the area and no future housing is planned for Kingsteignton – 'but I'm not sure of that,' the governor said.
The health visitors were so upset, as there was such a need for nursery facilities in the area, she went on.
A protest petition calling for a re-think has being drawn up, with pupils entering a competition for the best letter of complaint.
It has been sent to Teignbridge MP Richard Younger-Ross, with copies to local councillors.
Deputy headteacher Helen Tate said that when the school heard the news of the funding withdrawal, staff 'held up their hands in horror' and some fought to hold back tears.
The education authority carried out a feasibility study, which claimed there were enough nursery places in the area.
But, she pointed out, there was a great difference between private nurseries and an LEA one, although the authority had obviously been influenced by a proposal to start a nursery right next door to the school.
An in-school nursery
would have helped 'a cohesive progression' of generations through St Michael's, and would have made a difference to the
role of both the school and the community.
Children could have been linked to the national curriculum, as well as to early learning goals, and there had been the possibility of employing extra people if the nursery had gone ahead.
'The school is still thriving but the nursery would have given it an extra dimension,' said Ms Tate.
Headteacher Susan Eames revealed that plans to build an £80-£85,000 foundation classroom next to the nursery had also been scrapped.
'It is very, very disappointing,' she said.
The nursery would have catered for 26 children in the morning and another 26 in the afternoon.
Jane Baker, a speech language therapist, said the cancellation was frustrating because she had been campaigning for years to get a nursery 'and now it has all disintegrated'.
There was no state nursery
provision in Kingsteignton – a playgroup but no nursery, she said.
It was 'bizarre' to say that the nursery shouldn't be allowed because no building was planned in the future as the area had grown 'substantially' without nursery provision.
'There are lots of people against the decision,' Ms Baker said.
A Devon County Council
education spokesman said that the scheme had first been looked at in 2001 when information from Teignbridge said that there would be 244 new homes built in the area.
But a new survey in March this year revealed there would only be 85.
'This doesn't make a nursery viable in terms of places that would be taken up,' said the spokesman.
When public money was being spent it was important that there was a demand for the scheme, he added.
'We understand that people are disappointed but we have to be aware of how public money is spent.'
He added that an officer from the Early Years and Child Care Development team would be attending a governors' meeting next Thursday to explain the reasons for the decision.