Council chiefs are set to go ahead with plans to close a nursery ahead of new early learning provision in Kilbirnie after plans were called in at Holyrood.

Final confirmation has been received from the Scottish Government, allowing the council to proceed with the proposal to close Garnock Valley Early Years Centre and relocate provision to St Bridget’s Primary School Early Years.

North Ayrshire Council’s Cabinet originally considered and approved the plans, following a public consultation, in May 2019.

The proposals were subsequently called in by Scottish Ministers.

The School Closure Review Panel then decided to allow the proposal to proceed on the condition that the council examined further aspects, including the impact of the loss of the dedicated transport provision and staffing levels.

Further information was provided on these aspects of the proposal and an Equality Children’s Rights Impact Assessment was carried out and approved by

Cabinet on in February 2020 before being submitted to the Scottish Government.

That has now been approved.

Councillor John Bell, Cabinet Member for Education, said: “Now that this confirmation has been received, we can now take forward our plans for what will be an outstanding early years setting.

“The current pandemic means we may have to consider the timetable we have laid out, but parents should be re-assured that we will keep them and our young people up to date with any developments.”