MORE than 50 children are to be left without a nursery place after it was revealed their site is to close to make way for a pub and restaurant.
The Gyle Nursery, based at the shopping centre, will close its doors on March 31, along with a creche for shoppers' children.
Parents were informed of the closure this week and now have to try to find places for their children – which they say wil
l be tough as there are few nurseries in the area.
Nursery owner Karen Fairlamb said the news has come completely out of the blue, as there has been childcare provision at the shopping centre since it opened in 1993.
Ms Fairlamb has had no say in the decision as she is only leasing the building, which its owners have decided to re-let.
She said: "Between Christmas and New Year we got notice that the buildings are to be turned into a bar.
"They are effectively looking for a commercial rent. I pay rent but not the same as a commercial rate. It's devastating coming back from Christmas to be told this. It came as a total surprise."
Nursery assistant Wilma Scott said: "We have children from six to 18 months who have settled really well. They now have to make new friends and settle in somewhere else with different staff."
Ms Fairlamb has four other nurseries in the city, as well as the one at the Gyle.
She set up her Edinburgh Nursery company more than 20 years ago after being unable to find a suitable place for her baby son.
The Edinburgh Nursery was one of the first nurseries to offer childcare from birth to school.
Delia Douglas, whose four-year old granddaughter Elise attends the nursery, says the move to close it is not "socially responsible".
Mrs Douglas, 56, from Craigmount Court, said: "What about the people who are being made unemployed, and what about the children who have to go through this upheaval and start a new nursery away from all their friends?
"And what happens to those people who can't get their children into another nursery – will they have to give up work?
"I think it's absolutely outrageous."
One parent, who asked not to be named, said the decision to axe the nursery in favour of a pub is "scandalous".
He said: "I understand that people have businesses to run but to do what they have done seems a bit underhand. It's also what they plan to do with it that annoys me just as much. I really don't think it's necessary to have a pub and restaurant at the Gyle."
Another parent, whose two-year-old son attends the nursery, added: "This is the first time I've left my son with anybody and now he has got comfortable, I don't want to have to move him.
"I don't really know what I'm going to do because there aren't any other nurseries in this area."
No-one from the Gyle Shopping Centre was available to comment.
The current owner of the Gyle is a subsidiary of William Ewart Group.
