Greenfields Nursery Blackwood has permanently closed after Care Inspectorate Wales suspended its licence. Jason Robert-Jones, the nursery chain’s managing director, said he decided to shut the setting voluntarily after a rat infestation.
The closure followed a period in which a pest control contractor installed a rat trap at the premises a few days before the nursery shut. Robert-Jones said he had already engaged a professional pest control company and was working closely with it to deal with the problem.
Jason Robert-Jones and the closure
Robert-Jones said CIW did not close the nursery. “CIW did not close the nursery. The decision to close the setting was mine, and I did so voluntarily.”
He also said the only rat trap on the premises was in the staff room, and that it had been installed by the contractor shortly before the shutdown. His account places the closure after pest-control steps were already under way, rather than after a sudden shutdown.
Blackwood allegations
A former employee alleged that management did not properly deal with the infestation. The former employee also said rats were in children’s tuff trays and droppings were found in a child’s cot, while staff repeatedly raised concerns that were not properly addressed.
Robert-Jones denied those claims. “Rat droppings were not found in any children’s cots, nor were rats observed eating from tuff trays or other children’s equipment. The only rat trap on the premises was located in the staff room and was installed by our pest control contractor a few days before I voluntarily closed the nursery.”
Greenfields Nursery in Newport
Robert-Jones said the nursery chain also had a setting in Newport. He added, “With hindsight, I acknowledge that I could have communicated more clearly with parents throughout the situation.”
He said the events that unfolded on social media on Friday evening were deeply saddening, and added that the nursery’s Facebook pages were subjected to negative and, in some cases, defamatory comments. For parents and staff at Greenfields Nursery in Blackwood, the immediate change is final: the setting has closed and will not reopen.
