Woolwich nursery told to vacate premises with little notice

The lot in Woolwich was converted from a warehouse unit into a nursery school

A nursery school in south-east London is being forced to vacate its premises with little notice.

All 70 children and 40 staff at Under 1 Roof, Woolwich, have been told they have to leave by December.

A management agency for landowner Bluepuffin Estates said the nursery had breached the terms of the lease agreement.

The nursery owner said the landowner had known about it, and that it had been on the premises for nine years.

Matt Milchard added the landowner was now threatening the landlord with court action if they do not evict the nursery.

He told BBC London that although the lot's usage was originally categorised as "light industrial and storage", planning permission had been requested and approved in order to change it into a nursery school.

A Greenwich Council spokesperson confirmed it had the correct planning permission, adding it was "granted by area committee in February 2022 for the premises to be used as a nursery".

Matt Milchard founded the nursery nine years ago

The nursery was previously sent a notice saying the entrance built for the children, as well as the congestion caused by parents arriving to pick up and drop off their children, was in breach of the conditions of the lease.

The notice, from Bluepuffin Estates, warned that the entrance would be destroyed if they did not remove it.

Days later, Mr Milchard said he came into work to find that both it and part of the garden had been demolished.

"Our poor children came in on Monday morning to see the pile of rubbish," he said.

"Fences with dangerous sharp metal posts, toys, all destroyed and left in a pile.

"It is so sad that someone would do this to children just before Christmas."

Children came in to find the garden on the nursery school had been ripped up

Local resident Simon, whose daughter goes to Under 1 Roof, said: "She loves to go in; she loves the staff, joining her friends and my son is signed up to early next year.

"Finding any childcare in our area is very difficult, everything is very oversubscribed. This was the only one that we could find that worked with my wife's shift pattern as an A&E nurse.

"Having to vacate is completely out of the blue and it feels like we're being bullied out."

Bluepuffin did not respond to contact from BBC London but German Fisher, its management agency, said: "The leaseholder allowed the unit to be occupied by Under 1 Roof (Kids) Ltd as a nursery, which directly breaches the terms of the lease agreement between Bluepuffin Estates Ltd and the leaseholder.

"We can confirm that an agreement has been reached between the two parties and the use of the unit is to be returned to that required by the industrial estate.

"Whilst recognising that may be disappointing for some to hear, we are unable to comment further."

But Mr Milchard said he "couldn't understand" why the leaseholder wanted to evict the nursery when it had "no power to decide what the subsequent business could be".

"Our landlord has technically broken the lease granted by the freeholder over a small point and has been threatened with court action if he does not evict us. But the landowner knew about the plan for the nursery when we moved in," he said.

"It's totally bizarre and we feel victimised. Why is he doing it now? It can only be a warehouse again, but they're hellbent that the nursery must go."

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