North Stoneham Park nursery and community centre gets underway!
Work is underway on a new nursery and community centre for the new North Stoneham Park development in Eastleigh.
Built to serve the new homes planned in the area, the nursery will offer 95 childcare places, whilst the community facilities will include a café, community hall, youth room, health space and meeting rooms. It will create a welcoming friendly space in the new community for everyone to come together.
The centre will be run by YMCA, owned by Eastleigh Borough Council and built by Highwood Construction. Construction should finish later this year with opening early in 2021.
Watching some of the first diggers on the site, Judy Hillier, Chair of YMCA said “This marks an exciting moment for the new community of North Stoneham Park. The YMCA wants to support this emerging community and this great new facility will offer a place to meet others, with programmes and classes to engage and support the whole community. The nursery will provide a nurturing environment for our youngest children, developing early skills whilst also enabling parents to go to work. We will also be creating around 25 new jobs for people in the centre.”
Cllr Paul Bicknell, Cabinet Lead for Regeneration said “North Stoneham is becoming a new thriving local community and many new residents have already moved in. The Council is committed to supporting initiatives which will allow this new community to flourish and we look forward to working with the YMCA as this exciting facility will form an important part of the new local centre.”
He added, “This development shows the Council’s commitment to not only provide much needed housing but to also build sustainable communities with infrastructure coming towards the beginning of developments, rather than at the end, allowing residents to enjoy community benefits and start to create a strong community much earlier.”
Highwood Construction are building the 1100 homes and other facilities across the new development. Guy Hayward, Managing Director said that “The new community facility will be a landmark in the development, helping bring people together and showcasing the best in building design.”
The new facility forms part of a local centre for the new community at North Stoneham that will also include shops, offices and age-restricted flats centred around a landscaped ‘public’ square.
Enquiries for nursery space or use of the community facilities are now being taken. Please email [email protected] to find out more, or visit www.ymca-fg.org/eastleigh