Dismay at Sudden Eviction of West Ealing Nursery

Hungry Caterpillar displaced after children's centre closures

Picture: Hungry Caterpillar West Ealing

June 26, 2025

Dismay at Sudden Closure of West Ealing Nursery

Hungry Caterpillars displaced after children’s centre closures

There has been dismay from parents of children attending a private nursery in West Ealing over news of its eviction.

They were informed earlier this week that the Hungry Caterpillars Nursery at Hathaway Children’s Centre is to close.

This is because the facilities are needed for SEND provision in the borough which was previously hosted in one of the now closed children’s centres.

Hungry Caterpillars has been based in the centre for 14 years and is currently run by Lisa Hennessy. It was recently rated as ‘Good’ by Ofsted which praised staff for their passion and commitment and the positive learning environment. The nursery benefits from a large garden which was developed for safe outdoor play.

Parents say that the eviction notice came out of the blue and they are unhappy that the possibility of closure of private nurseries hosted in council facilities was not raised as part of the recent consultation on children’s centres.

John Clifford, whose 14-month-old son was thriving at the nursery, has written to the borough Scrutiny Committee, asking for them to investigate what he describes as the shortcomings of the consultation process. He says that he did not respond to it but says he would have done so if he was aware of what was being planned. He adds that he and other parents have been ‘blindsided’ by the council’s actions.

Picture: The Hathaway Children's Centre

He tells the councillors on the committee, “There are clear procedural shortcomings in this process. Families received no early notice that nursery provision here was even under review or at risk. The Council failed to provide opportunity to comment on impacts that are far more critical to current early years provision than children’s centre services alone. The removal of nursery provision is a significant change- yet it was entirely omitted from consultation papers.”

While it is recognised that there is a national problem with early years provision, supporters of Hungry Caterpillar believe it was part of the solution and point out that many of the children attending had special needs and provision for them was specifically praised by Ofsted.

60 families would need to find alternative provision due to the closure and, even if places are available, some nearby nurseries only offer term time provision, making them useless for working parents.

We have asked Ealing Council for a response.