Newport children’s nursery can relocate at last after winning four-year planning battle
A huge outpouring of support from residents and parents helped persuade planners to approve a Newport children’s nursery’s relocation within a garden centre site.
It marks the end of a four-year planning battle by ChildrensWorld and Mohawk Investments Limited to move the children’s nursery to a bigger building on the Mere Park site on the outskirts of the town.
Planners at Telford & Wrekin Council say the application for the site off the A41 and A518 still partly conflicts with its rural policies because the car parking will technically be in a “rural area”, but that is “outweighed” by other issues.
“In summary the local planning authority conclude that there are material considerations that outweigh the partial conflict with local plan policies to enable it to grant permission to this development in this instance,” planners confirmed this week.
Planners said the “community benefit” of the application, which would see the nursery grow from 97 to 118 children, was “supported by 48 representations of support from the public”.
Planners agreed that the proposal would relocate the existing nursery to a location that better meets the needs of residents, “which is further compounded by the substantial number of representations of support received by local residents and users of the nursery”.
Planners also gave “substantial weight to the case surrounding children safety and the operational benefits of the new nursery”.
Conservative group leader Councillor Andrew Eade had initially called for the elected planning committee to make the decision.
Councillor Eade (Church Aston & Lilleshall) withdrew his call-in after planners confirmed that they would “determine positively” the application.
Officers made their decision under delegated powers.
There were no representations opposing the plan but both Newport Town Council and Chetwynd Aston & Woodcote Parish Council had made their support conditional on a new pedestrian crossing on the A41 and speed limit cuts to 30mph.
But planners dashed those requests, ruling “given the strategic nature of the A41, a pedestrian crossing is not feasible”.
“Whilst reductions in speed are feasible, the existing nursery is operating from Mere Park without this provision and with this in mind the local planning authority could not refuse the application on this ground alone.”
The plan involves the change of use of the former Outdoor Focus shop, the creation of a new first-floor level, new site access, car parking and external play areas.
Telford & Wrekin Council planners say that the applicants have made amendments to plan boundaries, made a commitment over the land being used solely for a nursery, and agreed to off-site road works to overcome highway safety issues.
The council’s education (early years) department was also supportive of the proposal.
Highways experts had raised concerns over traffic at afternoon pick-up times but these have been resolved, say planners. They add that the site owners have agreed not to have two nurseries operating there at the same time.
A separate planning application for the same overall plan had been the subject of an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate after the council refused it. A hearing had been scheduled to start on November 11 this year.
The Planning Inspectorate confirmed that the appeal was withdrawn on Thursday (October 9) as the main parties agreed on a separate planning application.
