PARENTS are furious at the news that the only children's centre in Malmesbury could close as part of council cutbacks.

Malmesbury Children's Centre has been earmarked for closure by Wiltshire Council as the authority plans to restructure the service when current contracts come to an end in June next year.

There are plans to move a number of children’s centre services out of their current premises and into other community spaces, which has already been done with Magic Movers, a weekly fitness session for under fives held at the town hall in Malmesbury.

The children’s centres with the fewest people using them and those in less deprived areas will be under threat.

Malmesbury is currently rated as the least deprived area on a ranking system used by the council, and so it has been proposed that the centre will close.

The council said discussions will take place with Malmesbury Primary School about the future of the children's centre, which is attached to the school.

Cristine Wallace from Lea has a child currently at the children’s centre and another at the primary school.

She said: “It’s been nice that the services have all been in one place. It will become inconvenient when it is moved as where it is currently situated, next to the primary school, means that when sessions finish I can pick up both of my children quickly.

“The centre has been really helpful to me in other ways. It is not just a place to take my children but also a support for other things. It will be a shame if all those things aren’t locally accessible.”

Another parent, Hayley Goldstone, said: "The children's centre is such a valuable place for parents with young children. It would be such a loss if it were to close.

"We need more children's centres, not to close them."

Fellow parent Paula Baker added: "It would be a real shame for the children's centre to close. I have attended a few events recently and found it a lovely place for the children. I also know a few friends who attend the groups with their babies and toddlers."

County councillor Jon Hubbard is also opposed to the plans.

He said: “They’ve claimed they were simply moving the services out to the community, however the fact of the matter is the majority of Wiltshire will now have no youth services.

“Some of the things the centres do is not the stuff you can just pitch up and do at a village hall.

“The attitude that we can deliver these services without proper resources and base to do it from is overly ambitious.

“We are again seeing the council disguise a way of saving money by claiming it as an improved of services.

“Let’s not pretend we’re making things better here. Some towns will be left with no children’s centres at all such as Malmesbury.

Rachel Stewart, manager of the children’s service centres in Malmesbury, Cricklade and Royal Wootton Bassett, is urging people to take part and have their say in the consultation.

“We're seeking to ensure there is as little disruption to children and families as possible,” she said.

“In terms of the consultation, we would like to encourage as many as possible to have their say on it.

“It is still ongoing and nothing is set in stone until consultation is over.

“We do already deliver some children’s services in the community; however having the building makes it easier to do that.”

“You can’t take away 100 per cent of what’s there and say it’s an improvement in service.”

Laura Mayes, cabinet member for children’s services, said: “We are committed to providing our children and families with the right care and support and we understand having involvement with families from the very beginning is extremely important.

“We already know delivering these key services is not about the buildings but about the teams and partnership working and we already have good examples of successful services being delivered in different venues including libraries and village halls.

“When we asked both professionals and parents they said the most important thing is partnership working and that they have support when they need it.

“We’re now looking at a fresh approach to delivering these key services by going out more into the heart of the community and we’d like to hear from people on these proposals.”

People can make their views known on the consultation document and contribute to the consultation by visiting wiltshire.gov.uk/wiltshirechildrenscentressurvey.htm