A formal statutory consultation process on the potential closure of a nursery class in Greenock’s east end is set to begin in August – if elected members approve the move next week.
Inverclyde Council’s education department had previously found the number of available places in the area exceeds both current and projected demand.
As a result, it carried out an informal pre-consultation process on the prospect of removing the nursery class at King’s Oak Primary School in East Crawford Street.
As there was only one response to that survey, the local authority has recommended members of the education and communities committee rubber-stamp the commencement of a statutory consultation.
A report, which will be considered at the meeting on Tuesday, said: “The education service carried out an informal pre-consultation process with key stakeholders on the closure of King’s Oak Nursery Class in Greenock during February through to April 2026.
“This was agreed to at the education and communities committee meeting in January 2026.
“The reason for this pre-consultation was because following a desktop exercise … it had been identified that there are more available ELC [early learning and childcare] spaces than needed across the provision in this area.
“Officers have identified that there is the potential to close one facility i.e. King’s Oak Nursery Class. King’s Oak Primary School will be unaffected by this proposal.
“A pre-consultation allows the service to engage with the key stakeholders linked to the nursery to hear about their thoughts on the proposed closure and how education services will progress the option of closure into formal consultation.
“There was one stakeholder who provided feedback during the pre-consultation process and the recommendation is that this is now taken forward to a formal consultation process.
“The planned consultation timeline would begin in August 2026, with a report on its outcome being brought back to committee in November 2026.”
The closure, if confirmed, would be expected to take place in June 2027.
