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Adherence of Conditions from application 18/00376/B, 9th July 2018
The number of children in the building does not exceed 32. Daily registers record numbers. Request to amend this Condition detailed below.
Nursery sessions times: AM session: 8am- 12.30pm PM session: 1pm-5.30pm School day: 8.30am-4pm Full day: 8am -6 pm After School Club: 3.20pm-5.45pm {{image:116391}}
Amendment of Condition 2 of the planning decision, ref 18/00376/B. Current situation
We received planning approval on 9th July 2018 and opened Little Bears Nursery in December 2018 following registration from the Registrations and Inspections (R&I) team.
R&I registered our service for 32 children. This was initially for children aged 0-5 years, but was amended to 0-11 year olds in 2020 so we could offer an After School Club (ASC) provision to meet the needs of the community. Childcare in the north of the Island is in high demand.
Challenges
Our registration of 32 has to account for the ASC children; during the day we are working below our capacity as spaces are held between 3.20-4pm for school pick up. Clarification was sought from DEFA regarding the wording of our notice, specifically about 32 children being inside the building in the hope we could maximise our service as ASC would not be on site until numbers had decreased - as we collect children from two schools, the earliest ASC returns to nursery is 4.10pm, at which point children on a school day session (8-4pm) will have left the building, therefore we would remain within Condition 2 of our planning decision.
It was confirmed by the planning department that the notice relates to the building not the service, however R&I advised the number on our registration certificate (children in our care at any one time) has to correlate with the number on the planning notice.
Amendment to condition
I would like to apply to increase the number on Condition 2, from 32 to 40.
The planning notice states the reason for Condition 2 as "In the interests of the amenity of the surrounding area along with highway safety and parking and to safeguard the welfare of children". Original concerns were around traffic and road safety; over the last 3 years we have managed this risk by having staggered session times and also including a clause in the parent/carer contracts about responsible driving. There have been no accidents and no reports, that we are aware of, in relation to traffic and road safety since we have occupied Lezayre Church Hall.
The increase in numbers would not necessarily increase the number of vehicles travelling to and from the premises as we have an increasing number of sibling groups accessing our service since adding our ASC provision. In addition, on occasion some children accompany staff to the schools to meet their parents/carers collecting older siblings, again reducing the traffic at the premises.
The increase in numbers will allow flexibility for the provision offered to both nursery and school aged children and will allow us to maximise our capacity so we can offer much needed childcare to families in the north of the Island. It will also support us as a small business to cover the ever-increasing overheads, safeguarding the future of the business.
R\&I support our application as we meet the requirements set out in the Child Day Care Standards.
There is a car park behind the hall which can easily accommodate staff parking and families dropping off and collecting their children. As suggested by Hazel Reid at Highway Services, access and egress is via the loop road behind the hall. The nursery is not accessed directly from the main road due to the restricted visibility. A gate was erected to prevent vehicles accessing the site this way.
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