PLANS to merge two Newport nurseries, which are nearly three miles apart, are moving ahead.

Newport Council’s cabinet member for education and skills, Cllr Gail Giles, has put out a statutory notice on plans to merge Kimberley Nursery School and Fairoak Nursery School.

The notice, which will last for 28 days, gives stakeholders such as parents, alumni, schools and local residents an opportunity to put forward formal objections to the proposal.

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The controversial plans have been subject to a petition with more than 1,288 signatures calling on the local authority to ‘save Kimberley Nursery’.

The petition says: “Kimberley Nursery is a feeder school to our local schools which do not have their own nursery schools attached.

“It’s imperative to keep this nursery school open as so many children and parents rely on the nursery; closing it will negatively impact our community.”

The proposals come after declining pupil numbers and an increasing deficit.

The two nurseries – the city’s only community-maintained nursery schools not attached to a primary school – already share an executive headteacher, and both have only been around half full in recent years.

The report says Kimberley and Fairoak nurseries are in deficits of £143,000 and £2,500 respectively.

The report on the proposal says the move could help save the council £65,000 a year.

The statutory notice will be published in due course and will be available to view on the council’s website.