College Park bowling club could be transformed into nursery
Portsmouth City Council has submitted plans to turn a former bowling club in College Park into a day nursery to help meet the growing demand for childcare places.
The site, on the western side of College Park in Hilsea, was originally built as a bowls club with a small pavilion. If approved, the pavilion will be refurbished to create nursery facilities, and the old bowling green will be turned into an outdoor play area for children aged three months to five years.
The nursery, run by local childcare provider Top Tots, will offer 35 places. The outdoor space is expected to include fixed play equipment to create a safe and fun environment.
According to planning documents, childcare providers in Portsmouth are struggling to meet demand due to changes in government funding. Since April 2024, working parents of children aged nine months to five years have been able to claim 15 hours of free childcare each week. This will increase to 30 hours in September 2025.
“In Portsmouth, the Department for Education estimates that 329 additional places will be needed by September 2025, representing a 17 per cent increase in the supply of childcare hours for two-year-olds and under,” the documents say.
However, the council warns that the real demand could be much higher.
"Local knowledge and data tell us that this estimate does not account for the geographical nature of Portsmouth, which has a motorway in between the north and the south of the city. The densely populated south of the city is where we know sufficiency is already a problem, whereas the north of the city tends to be where there is greater space and less demand.
"We anticipate that we will need to find closer to 700 new spaces in Portsmouth, the majority of which will need to be supplied in the south of the city in order that the Local Authority can meet its statutory duty as the entitlements roll out."
So far the planning application has not received comments from members of the public, you can view the application using the reference 25/00014/FUL.