Extension work well underway at Little Lambs Day Nursery in Kinmel Bay

Little Lambs Day Nursery in Kinmel Bay is having an upstairs extension on their building.

This will allow the nursery to implement a brand new large after school room, adding about 24 spaces to the childcare setting. There will also be additional toilets and a large office space.

As well as the extension, Sam Maitland-Price, nursery owner, plans to implement a private garden area for the baby room, a pre-school private outdoor space, an exterior brick wall, tarmacked car park and outdoor cabin. The nursery is also having a revamp.

Plans went to Conwy County Borough Council in 2019 and were passed in December 2019.

Lockdown restrictions put plans on hold but in July 2020, work was able to begin.

Progression of the work

Sam Maitland-Price, who is using T & P Building Solutions LTD and BGB Scaffolders, said: “We have used T&P Building solutions who have project managed the development from the beginning and have been exceptionally professional and supportive.

"BGB Scaffolding composed an in depth risk assessment to ensure we could continue operating whilst the building work was going on. They have been extremely vigilant in the health and safety of ourselves, children and families accessing the nursery.

"We are very proud of how well we have coped and managed during this whole pandemic and how resilient our staff and families have been.

“To be able to improve the environment within our nursery is very important to us and this extension will allow us to support more children and families.

“We believe the changes we are making to the setting will enable us to offer exceptional care for all children within and around our community as well as offer more childcare spaces.”

Work should be completed within six months, but could take longer due to Covid restrictions.

BGB Scaffolders have erected the outdoor scaffolding

Sam, 36, is married to husband Rich. The couple share two daughters, Olivia, 11 and Penelope, aged six.

Sam said: "We have been planning this extension for the last three years and it was finally passed by Conwy County Council in September 2018. It had stipulations on the final decision regarding am acoustic fence between the neighbouring properties so we went back to council to ask if we could change this to a brick wall – this was passed in June 2020.

"It means the absolute world to me.

"Myself and my husband took a risk 14 years buying a nursery at 22 years old.

"This risk paid off as we are still standing strong 14 years later. We dreamed of going bigger but it was always just a dream and then one day we decided to get plans and see if it was something we could actually achieve and so an extension was the next move we wanted to make.

"We want Little Lambs to become its own private childcare hub," Sam added.

"We think it is so important to offer our community, families and children a place which offers excellent care and experiences for children as well as support for parents and families and a training hub for staff.

Sam and her husband Rich have been planning this extension for the last three years

"We are so excited for this project and cannot wait for it to be completed and offer more places for our community, more support for our families and more training opportunities for our team."

Sam, originally from Rhyl, moved to Kinmel Bay in 2009.

The couple also own Little Lambs Fun Club, based in Ysgol Y Faenol in Bodelwyddan, which is a holiday and after-school club for children aged between three and 11.

To add more to the plate, Sam and Rich have recently added an extra setting - Little Lambs Emmanuel - which is a playgroup based in Ysgol Emmanuel, Rhyl, for children aged between two and four years old.

The extension will allow the nursery to offer more childcare spaces

Sam hopes to expand the setting into an after school club.

"When I started the nursery, back in 2007, I never dreamt I would have three settings and the opportunity to create our own childcare hub," Sam added.

"I just always wanted it to be a success.

"We have been able to complete so much during the last 14 years with plenty more to go.

"We have amazing support from our own family and friends and my team are absolutely amazing. They have been such a strength to me especially during the last few months during the pandemic."

Little Lambs Day nursery achieved rating of 'excellent' in their last CIW inspection in 2019.

The nursery currently offers eligible children 10 hours of Early Entitlement education for three year olds and is able to support parent who are eligible for Childcare Offer Funding for three to four year olds.

They have limited space currently due to the building works but are hoping to have opportunity for prospective parents and current parents and families to view the site once works have been complete.