Plans approved to extend Northamptonshire village nursery by demolishing unused garage
Plans to extend a Northamptonshire village nursery by demolishing an unused garage have been approved.
Harpole Day Nursery in Carrs Way currently has 34 children on its books, but is having to turn away families as the education setting is at full capacity.
In a bid to extend its offering, the nursery submitted a planning application in April this year to add a modular building at the back of the nursery to provide additional classroom space. The building will replace an existing dilapidated garage.
According to planning documents, it will be a single storey, standalone building and will comprise one large classroom, three toilets and a small kitchen/staff area. Plans say the classroom can accommodate 16 children.
Documents say: “The building will serve the existing well-established nursery which is an important local community facility.
“Furthermore, the nursery has previously had planning permission for a similar extension in this location.”
Plans also confirm that a fence will be installed in line with the existing building to create a secure area around the proposed new building. A timber ramp will also be installed to facilitate access to the new building and the building will only be accessible from the enclosed garden area of the existing nursery.
Two neighbours wrote objections to the plans, citing issues with traffic and parking around nursery drop off and pick up times. However, no objections were lodged by the highways agency or Northamptonshire Police.
The extension will reduce the number of car parking spaces at the nursery from seven to five, however the nursery says this would not give rise to “unacceptable issues in terms of car park capacity, given the site’s highly sustainable location” and the staggered nature and short durations drop off and pick ups.
Planning documents added: “There are no capacity or congestion issues associated with the car park at present in view of the staggered nature and short duration of drop offs and pick-ups.
“It is therefore considered that the limited proposed uplift in children attending the nursery and the slight reduction in the number of parking spaces, would not give rise to unacceptable issues in terms of car park capacity, given the site’s highly sustainable location.”
Ultimately West Northamptonshire Council approved the plan on July 25 as it was deemed “acceptable”.