A parent has said the uncertainty around the opening of the nursery in the new Roundhouse community facility in Braddan is ‘unacceptable’ and will affect her child’s future.

The parent, who wished to remain anonymous, is hoping to send their child to ‘Little Cherubs’ nursery, which is currently at the Old Chapel in Union Mills but is set to move to the Roundhouse.

The opening of that, however, has been delayed because of a 28-day notice to stop access to the site issued by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).

The parent says they’re now in a position where they may struggle financially to support their family and could have to stop working to look after their toddler.

They said: ‘This isn’t okay, especially for parents who don’t have any child care. Me and my partner are both working full time and it’s been hard to find the balance.

‘I don’t understand how the access was proposed and granted back in 2016 and then for things to change at such a late stage. It will impact businesses, families and most importantly the children.’

The nursery Little Cherubs has been contacting government ministers and MHKs to get answers about the situation, but have only received generic replies.

Director Theresa Barton says it’s been a difficult period for the company, but that they are ‘confident’ of reaching some sort of resolution.

Nursery manager Elisha Barton added: ‘With not being able to move to the new nursery our children have to stay where they are, so we’re having to make decisions of who we can actually give childcare to this week.

‘We had the difficult decision to tell some parents that we had to reduce their days because we couldn’t accommodate everyone.

‘Braddan Commissioners have done their best to put in place lots of safety mitigations that the DHSC have asked of them. However, it still isn’t enough for some reason. There is no reason why they shouldn’t come to a solution.’

Health and Social Care Minister Lawrie Hooper claims due to a planning condition of The Roundhouse, the lack of a pedestrian crossing is now one of the reasons why the nursery can’t open.

However, Braddan Commissioners say they’re in the process of applying for a ‘variation’ to the planning application, which would remove the need to have a crossing in place before The Roundhouse is fully operational.

Commissioners’ chair Andrew Jessopp says there are two pedestrian crossings, and a third wouldn’t be in their best interests financially.

He said: ‘I understand the issues being faced in getting our development fully operational is going to the Council of Ministers this week for them to decide the next step.’