Nursery plans approved despite no majority vote

Plans to create an 88-place nursery in Surrey with four car parking spaces were approved - despite only four of 11 councillors voting for it.

Applicant Bright Horizons wants to replace a 10-person care home in Gordon Avenue, Camberley, with a nursery for 35 toddlers, 32 pre-schoolers and 21 babies.

The plans were approved by Surrey Heath Borough Council's planning committee on June 5, as reported by the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

While less than half of councillors voted in favour, the committee passed the proposal because a ruling by the council's environmental health officer meant they would be unable to defend any refusal in the future.

This officer raised no objections and expressed a belief that any noise would have a "negligible impact", the meeting heard.

The proposal, which received 58 letters of objection, was reported to the committee by councillor Lisa Finan-Cooke as residents' fears began to pile up.

One concern was that the four parking spaces included in the plans would create gridlock on the small roads leading up to the site.

Another was that the proposal would change the site's character from a sleepy residential home to a noisy nursery.

It was claimed that the change in site would result in a 316% increase in trips relative to the existing use.

Objector David Webb said: "Four parking spaces, one is a disabled bar and one even but none are available for the 22 staff.

"The idea that four families will arrive every 15 minutes sounds organised in theory but in practice parents will arrive early, leave late, or overlap, especially with children."

Councillor Victoria Wheeler added: "The noise that a child makes is a little bit like an aircraft going over, it's a sudden and quiet piercing noise."

The meeting heard that the care home had not been operating at capacity, and that a tender process to find a new adult care provider proved fruitless.

The plans were given the go-ahead by four votes in favour, three against and four abstentions.

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