Work is now under way on East Renfrewshire Council’s £24m development of five new nurseries after the first sod was cut at the site of the new Crookfur Family Centre.

Heron Bros welcomed children from Crookfur Primary Nursery Class, councilors and council staff to the site for a ceremonial sod-cutting which marked the important milestone for the project.

Heron Bros has been awarded the contract to deliver East Renfrewshire Council’s Early Learning Expansion 2020 which is a five-project framework. The new-build facilities, three of which will operate as family centres providing childcare for 50 weeks of the year, are planned to be open by August 2020. Each project comprises of the design and build of a new-build Nursery together with all associated external works.

In addition to the new Crookfur Family Centre, early years facilities will also be built at Overlee Park, a replacement for Glenwood Family Centre on an adjacent site, and two new extended nurseries within the grounds of Busby and Eaglesham primaries.

Cathal Heron, Regional Director at Heron Bros said:

“Heron Bros is delighted to be working with East Renfrewshire Council once again to deliver their Early Learning Expansion 2020. We have a strong track record of delivering notable education and community projects within the East Renfrewshire area including: Faith Schools’ Joint Campus, Crookfur PS & Nursery and Arthurlie Family Centre. The new nurseries will play a significant part in delivering increased free childcare in the area by 2020.”

Cathal continued:

“Heron Bros aims to have a positive impact on the local community by providing job opportunities and promoting careers in construction with schools and colleges. We look forward to working closely with our construction partners and the local community while delivering the scheme.”

Councillor Paul O’Kane, Convener for Education and Equalities said:

“It’s exciting to reach this important milestone in our early years expansion plan, which will see five new state-of-the-art nurseries created. They will provide fantastic facilities for our youngest learners, with amazing outdoor space to allow them to expand their curiosity through play. This marks the start of this ambitious project and work on all five new sites will get under way over the next few months. We are committed to providing the very best learning environment for all the children and young people in East Renfrewshire and this project will deliver just that for our residents.”

Crookfur

At Crookfur, the plan is to replace the existing pavilion with a 120-place nursery and sports changing rooms. A hall space will also be included which will be available to the whole community. In addition, the public playground will be upgraded and there will be additional car parking created.

Overlee Park

The family centre proposed for within Overlee Park would be created on an area of disused ground behind the current pavilion. It is planned to carry out two phases of work, first building a 120-place nursery and then creating a sports changing facility in a separate section of the building, which will further enhance the facilities within the park. A community hall space will also be created as well as additional car parking. Once this early years, sports and community hub has been built the council then propose to demolish the dilapidated old pavilion and landscape the area to enhance the park further. Part of the old pavilion is currently closed up and home to hundreds of bats, so the council is also proposing to build a new bat house provision so that the creatures are not disturbed.

Busby

A 120 place nursery will be built within the grounds of Busby Primary to replace the temporary facility currently in place. As part of the development a new multi-use games area (MUGA) will be built, as well as new landscaped play areas for pupils.

Eaglesham

The plan for Eaglesham Primary is to build a 120 place nursery within the grounds of the school with a corridor linking it to the main building. This would replace the existing 60 place nursery class within the school and improved parking and drop-off facilities would also be created.

Glenwood

A single-storey replacement facility is proposed for Glenwood Family Centre to provide a larger and more modern learning environment. The building has been designed to take advantage of the fantastic outdoor learning opportunities within Eastwood Park, with consideration given to the final car park design to ensure mature trees are maintained.