Parents of children at the Triangle Children’s Centre, Seven Sisters, say they want to help the council find alternatives to the closure of the under-twos nursery.

They claim that over 80 families on the nursery’s waiting list would have no prospect of childcare provision, whilst children due to start in September would lose their places.

An additional fear of parents is a 70 per cent fee increase at the centre for two to threeyear olds, raising childcare costs 50 per cent above market average in N15

Parents were notified about the changes in July and many families have no affordable childcare in place for September.

A Triangle Centre N15 Parents Forum survey reveals that 58 per cent of parents believe they will have to remove their child.

Some parents may have to leave their place of work.

Members of the Forum want provision for under-twos at the Triangle Centre reinstated, and fee increases suspended pending consultation.

They have requested an impact assessment and an agreement on reasonable fee increases in line with other local provision.

Concerned mothers have commented on the Triangle Centre N15 Parents Forum where the ‘Save our Nurture Room’ campaign petition can be found.

One is Teresa, who said: “My grandson is under two and goes to the nursery, without which my daughter-in-law would not be able to continue with her career.

“Parents need affordable provision in the area. It is good for both children and parents.”

Another is Luci, who commented: “My children are a little bit older now, though after school care is still an issue.

“What are women meant to do when maternity leave or pay come to an end? Who can afford these price hikes?”

Haringey Council reports that the nursery is not to be closed and fees for the nine children at the nursery who will have turned 2 by January have been frozen.

Parents of the three children who will not turn two until later in 2018 will be contacted to discuss options.

Councillor Elin Weston, Haringey Council cabinet member for children and families, said: "We are not closing the nursery at the Triangle Centre.

“However, under the government’s new national funding formula for early years, Haringey has lost more than £1.4million previously used to subsidise the cost of our childcare places.

“Unfortunately, it is simply not possible for us to bridge the gap in the face of ongoing budget reductions across all services, caused by government cuts to our overall budget of over 40 per cent in recent years.

“The high cost of offering childcare places for 0-2 year-olds, and the loss of subsidy means we would have to charge in excess of £500 per week for this kind of care, making it unaffordable for most local families.

“We therefore let parents know this summer that we would be discontinuing 0-2 year-old provision from January 2018, by which time the majority of children currently enjoying an under-2s place at Triangle will have made the transition to the 2-3 year-old age group. In the meantime, we are freezing fees for all existing under-2s at Triangle.

“We will also be meeting with the parents of children directly affected to discuss their options.”

Central government announced its new national funding formula for early years in December 2016, leaving local authorities little time to implement changes.

Central government policy has been for councils to commission rather than directly provide childcare since 2006.

Council-run provision is seen as a ‘last resort’.

The majority of local authorities have phased out directly provided childcare.