Nursery attacks mindless’ act

A DAYCARE nursery has described the turning down of a planning application as a "mindless political decision".

Geoff Chapman, managing director of Sunhill Nursery, was angry that councillors rejected a plan to convert a unit at The Maltings, Royston, into a daycare nursery.

It was the second application the nursery had submitted - and the second time it has been rejected.

Mr Chapman said after a meeting of North Herts District Council's Royston area committee that the proposal was still turned down in spite of his efforts to solve car parking problems and produce evidence from expert traffic consultants.

He said that under the new scheme the nursery would acquire parking spaces in the Royston railway station car park to prevent an increase in traffic using The Maltings.

This, he said, would solve one particular problem over the scheme.

"The committee chose to ignore this and professed themselves incapable of comprehending how parking spaces might be secured in the station car park," he said.

Mr Chapman said the new application saw a reduction in the number of children who would be attending the daycare nursery.

He warned, however: "We do not give up easily and we will be appealing against this mindless political decision. The committee has failed parents and young children in Royston."

The committee was told, however, that Herts County Council's highways experts had rejected the idea of using the station car park because it could not be "realistically ensured" that all parents would use the facility.

District council planning officer Simon Ellis said there was concern that the rail company could reverse its decision and stop the use of parking spaces.

n The daycare nursery has been looking for alternative premises after the lease expired on a building in Market Hill, Royston.