Woman's dream of opening nursery in Warwickshire hanging in the balance after plans were thrown out

Her plans, which council officers recommended be approved, involved extending an old church and adding a mezzanine which would have allowed her to enrol up to 67 children
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A woman’s dream of opening a children’s nursery in the village where she used to teach is hanging in the balance after her plans to convert an old church were thrown out.

Kate McLeod told councillors at this week’s [WED] virtual planning meeting of Stratford District Council that starting the business was a long-term family ambition and that the former Methodist church in the centre of Snitterfield, near Stratford, was the perfect location.

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Her plans, which council officers recommended be approved, involved extending the church and adding a mezzanine which would have allowed her to enrol up to 67 children.

A womans dream of opening a childrens nursery in the village where she used to teach is hanging in the balance after her plans to convert an old church were thrown out.A womans dream of opening a childrens nursery in the village where she used to teach is hanging in the balance after her plans to convert an old church were thrown out.
A womans dream of opening a childrens nursery in the village where she used to teach is hanging in the balance after her plans to convert an old church were thrown out.

She explained: “Little Dragons Day Nursery is a family venture that my husband and I have embarked on because it has been an ambition of ours for many years. As well as being a mother-of-three I’ve worked as a teacher for 12 years including a period at Snitterfield school.

“When searching for suitable premises for our venture we spent a lot of time researching the area and investigating gaps in the sector to ensure our nursery proposal was viable.”

She added that although there was an existing nursery in the village - attached to the primary school - it only opened during school hours and not during the holidays. Little Dragon would offer those extended hours allowing parents to drop children off from 7.30am and collect up to 6.30pm.

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She added: “We want to breathe new life into an existing building and become a valued part of the community.”

But councillors heard that there was plenty of opposition to the plans with the parish council and 70 residents objecting compared to 14 letters of support.

Cllr Peter Richards (Con), the district councillor for Snitterfield, explained that the lack of parking and the impact the business would have on traffic through the village were his key concerns while neighbour Claes Martenson, who lives next door to the church, was concerned about the resident wildlife and that the rear extension would impact on his privacy as it would be just 30cm from his boundary.

Mr Martenson told councillors: “I hope the committee will understand how this development will have an unacceptable impact on green infrastructure, on a neighbour’s amenity and on bats and birds.”

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While councillors were told county council highways officials had not objected on traffic or parking grounds, they did support Mr Martenson’s concerns.

Both Cllr Chris Kettle (Con, Bishop’s Itchington) and Cllr Chris Mills (Con, Kineton) expressed their worries while Cllr Nigel Rock (Lib Dem, Napton and Fenny Compton) added: “Using this as a nursery seems an entirely appropriate use.

"What’s bothering me is the scale of the enterprise that’s being proposed. We have to look at it in its totality and I think I come down on the side that this causes an impact on residential amenity.”

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