Early Christmas present for Somerset village as £370,000 nursery moves forward
Campaign by local MP and parents pays off as funding is agreed for new Bishops Lydeard nursery.
Residents of a growing village near Taunton have received an early Christmas present after local councillors agreed to push forward with a new £370,000 nursery.
Bishops Lydeard Church School’s small nursery (located on Mount Street) has been oversubscribed in recent years, with local parents being put on a waiting list and some children having to be turned away.
Rachel Gilmour, the Liberal Democrat MP for Tiverton and Minehead, has been campaigning for £100,000 of funding from local housing developers to be spent on expanding local nursery provision, working with the Bath & Wells Multi Academy Trust (which manages the nursery and primary school).
Bishops Lydeard Parish Council has now approved the use of this funding, meaning work can begin to deliver the project as early as February 2026.
Bishops Lydeard has seen significant housing growth in recent years, with David Wilson Homes delivering the Moorland Gate estate (comprising 173 homes) on Taunton Road at the southern entrance to the village, near the busy A358.
Cavanna Homes teased plans in June for up to 130 further homes south of Greenway Road in the west of the village, not far from the terminus of the West Somerset Railway.
Housing developers provide contributions to local facilities through two different mechanisms – Section 106 agreements (which covers amenities within the site and the immediate environs) and the community infrastructure levy (CIL, which can be pooled from different developers to deliver more significant facilities, such as schools or GP surgeries).
Parish councils retain 15 per cent of all CIL funding from developments within their local area (which rises to 25 per cent if the parish has a Neighbourhood Plan in place), allowing them to spend money on local improvement projects.
A total of £100,000 of CIL funding had originally been earmarked for “fitting out” a new nursery when it was delivered, with the multi-academy trust seeking to develop ‘The Old School House’ near the existing site.
After months of delays, Bishops Lydeard Parish Council voted on December 10 to allocate this funding to the new nursery project, which is expected to cost up to £370,000.
The primary school had submitted a funding application to the Department for Education (DfE) for the new nursery, supported by Mrs Gilmour – the outcome of which is expected to be known by April 2026.
However, the project is able to get under way without this funding if need be, after the multi-academy trust announced it would increase its match funding from £150,000 to £220,000 – leaving only £50,000 to be found.
Mrs Gilmour (who has been campaigning for a new nursery vociferously since her election in July 2024) said she was “delighted” by the news and would keep up pressure on the DfE to ensure the new facility could open by September 2026.
She said: “This is absolutely wonderful news for the local community in and around Bishops Lydeard.
“If all goes to plan, following the school’s timeline, children and families will be able to benefit from wraparound care at the new nursery in the old schoolhouse building from next September.
“I know this is welcome news for local parents in the village, and I am delighted that our campaigning has paid off.
“I am grateful to the parish council for voting to allow these funds to be used to start the building work, and I now look forward to continuing to support Bishops Lydeard Church School in any way I can to get this project under way.”
Phil Durban from the Bishops Lydeard Residents Action Group added: “This is the very best Christmas present for children and families in Bishops Lydeard; we will have a new nursery class opening in our village school in September 2026.
“It’s taken 18 months of campaigning by our local MP, together with parents, grandparents and residents, to ensure we have a new nursery class in place.
“Going forward, with Rachel’s support, we need to ensure speedier access to CIL funds to ensure our schools and early years services can fully meet the needs of families when new housing is built.
“The primary school made an application to the parish council’s CIL fund in March 2024.
“The delays and prevarication by the parish council in coming to a decision about releasing funding has resulted in increased build costs and waiting lists and delays for parents needing to access nursery care for their children.”