PLANS for a major new nursery in Dorridge should be refused
because it would not provide safe access for pedestrians, a council planning
officer has said.
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Councillors will tomorrow be asked to make a decision on The
Natural Childcare Company’s plan for a 90-place nursery at Bentley Manor, Box
Trees Road.
A Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council planning officer said converting the office
building “would provide much needed
nursery accommodation to residents of Knowle and Dorridge”.
Yet it raised concerns over access from
50mph Box
Tree Road , which has no footpath or lighting.
It says: “The applicant asserts that
customers would arrive by car and therefore in the balancing exercise of the
benefits of the building in terms of its reuse, employment created and the
setting for children using the site outweighs that of concerns for highway
safety.
“However, staff will also need to access the
site and not all may have access to a car, and there may be occasion where
customers using the nursery for reasons outside their control wish to access
the site by bus so also requiring walking along Box Trees Road.”
These “significant” concerns “outweigh the
benefits provided by the scheme” it said.
The nursery would open from 7.30am to 6.30pm Monday to Friday and 9am to 1pm on Saturday and create 25 jobs.
A previous planning application was
withdrawn over council officers’ concerns and the new scheme boosts parking
spaces from 23 to 30.
And the report said concerns about
visibility at the junction into the site had been overcome after more information
was supplied.
Two residents supported and two objected to
the plan, the report says.
Neil Sayer wrote: “I think that this
development is likely to cause extremely dangerous and potentially fatal
traffic issues outside its gates.”
Celia Roberts added: “The nearly blind
pull-out from Earlswood Road (opposite Bentley Manor) on to Box Trees Road is
already hazardous because of the bend and the addition of cars entering/exiting
the narrow entrance to the nursery
opposite would add to the danger.”
But Michelle Lister said: “There is
currently a lack of good quality childcare in the local area and the proposed
nursery will help to address this.”
Abbie Payton said: “I am in support of this
application because parents in Dorridge and the surrounding villages are crying
out for a good quality private nursery.”
And Rebecca Cooper said “Most parents drive
their children (as going on to work etc) so its rural location means that additional
traffic will be away from pedestrian areas.”
