New community centre and nursery coming to Milton on former school site

A new nursery and community centre will be opened on a former school site in Milton after council planners approved the project.

Scaraway Nursery School and charity North United Communities (NUC) are set to move into a hub on land previously used by Glasgow School for the Deaf at Shapinsay Street.

The council’s education department, which hopes the facility will become the “new heart of the community”, is behind the plan. It has been developed to help meet a Scottish Government pledge to increase free early learning and childcare.

“Both the nursery and the NUC will be provided with a dedicated suite of accommodation as well as access to shared community spaces,” the application stated.

“The project vision is to deliver an exemplar facility for the community of Milton. The building should aspire to become the new heart of the community. The spaces within should provide a stimulating and supportive environment which caters for the needs of both groups and individuals.”

Glasgow City Council is providing new build early learning and childcare facilities in “areas where high demand for early years places exceeds existing physical capacity”.

It comes after the Scottish Government decided to increase free early learning and childcare from 600 hours to 1140 hours for all children aged three to five, as well as eligible two-year-olds.

The new Scaraway Nursery has been designed to take 95 children and will include four playrooms, a general purpose area and dining space, offices and a kitchen. There will also be an outdoor play area.

NUC, an organisation “dedicated to strengthening local communities, approached the council in 2018 to ask for support to “develop a new base in Milton”. The planning application stated their existing accommodation was “no longer fit for purpose”.

It will be the main tenant within the “community section of the facility and will be provided with dedicated office space, general purpose rooms as well as use of combined facilities such as a large hall and kitchen space”.

The application added there is expected to be dedicated offices for stakeholders from Glasgow Caledonian University and local community group, Love Milton.

There is also a “desire for a community garden/growing space and a nature playground for children”.

“It is anticipated that this may be a space the community helps to develop,” the plans added.

Opening hours for the nursery are expected to be 8am to 6pm from Monday to Friday while the community centre would open from 8am to 10pm on weekdays and 10am to 8pm on Saturday and Sunday.