HSDC ALTON has confirmed its nursery will stay open past this academic year.

It comes after the college extended a 30-day consultation period from last October to December, with a decision expected in the new year.

And now the college has confirmed that after assessing the financial feasibility of the nurseries based at the Alton and South Downs campuses, they will now remain open.

Leona Berry, vice-principal of organisational development and people, said: “We are delighted to say that both nurseries will remain open beyond this academic year.

“We have no doubt the nurseries offer a highly-nurturing, stimulating and engaging environment for all the children and thank everyone for their feedback, contributions and patience while we worked through the consultation process.

“We have introduced what we believe is a sustainable business model moving forward with a fee increase, but one which will still keep us competitive with other providers in the area.

“We realise this has been a challenging time for all involved and are happy we have been able to work to come to a favourable conclusion.”

Parent Kat Guenioui – whose two children have attended the nursery – received the news of the nursery staying open in December and said: “We are all absolutely delighted.

“After going through the numbers we were prepared for there to be a price increase. The nursery is still very competitively priced for the area and of course we’re so happy with the provision. I certainly don’t mind paying a bit more.

“I assume some people will have found the price increase difficult – but for everyone involved in pushing for the nursery to remain open, this definitely felt like a win. And to get that reassurance before Christmas was wonderful for everyone, staff and parents.”

Katherine said that while the HSDC nursery at the South Downs campus had “been told they will stay open for at least two years”, the Alton nursery “doesn’t have that same time frame put on it”.

“We’ve just been told it’s staying open, so there’s no doubt hanging over us, and future parents won’t have to worry about a potential closure when making their choice of childcare,” she said.

Kat also paid tribute to staff and nursery manager Jo Osgood, who “manages the nursery so beautifully”.