Application for new 150-child nursery in Park Gate

A nursery owner has applied for planning permission on a new site in Park Gate to cater for a waiting list of 150 children.

New nursery proposed for the land at the house next to Village Inn in Park Gate

Angela Vulliamy, owner of Woodlands Early Roots in Sarisbury Green, has applied for outline planning permission for the children’s nursery, access, parking and amenity area in Botley Road.

With the increasing demand for places at the Sarisbury Green nursery, which has been running for 10 years, Mrs Vulliamy has decided to try to expand into Park Gate.

The two-storey 800 sq m timber-clad building proposed would be sited next to a house on Botley Road – which Mrs Vulliamy plans to buy and use for storage and admin. On land behind these buildings it is planned to have 30 car parking spaces for the site. Currently there are six.

If given the go-ahead from Fareham Borough Council, Mrs Vulliamy plans to employ 20 full time and 34 part time employees – equivalent to 37 full-time.

The plan would be carried out in two phases – to have 75 children attend the new nursery at its initial opening, with the other 75 joining at a later date.

She had applied for other buildings that were refused by the council, including one in Swanwick Lane that was also refused by an appeal inspector. A reason for the council’s refusal included that the location needed to be on a main road, and not on the boundaries of countryside land, so it could be accessed via public transport.

This land to the back of the house is where the planned nursery and car parking spaces would go

“We want to teach children about nature, the country, outside and growing vegetables and where food comes from,” said Mrs Vulliamy.

“We haven’t been in a hurry to expand. We want to find the right place. Hopefully with this application we’ve managed to tick all the boxes.

“We have been applying for three years now and we don’t want to rush it. Our whole ethos is not to compromise the care we give so we want to make sure we find the right place.”

She added: “Ten years ago I was telling the council we will promise to not let the parents park on the road or on double yellow lines, we would support local business and provide employment opportunities for people in the local area.

“Ten years later we have an outstanding nursery as certified by Ofsted and parents and we buy produce from local businesses, we employ 60 staff and we don’t let people park on the road.

“We have strict rules at our current nursery, all written into the registration documents, that if they want their children to come to our nursery they cannot park on the road or on double yellow lines.

“The new nursery would be on a busy road and it’s in our best interest to not let people block the road and make it safe for children and parents to get to and from the nursery. So we have applied for 30 car parking spaces on the site and off the road.”

Park Gate ward Councillor Brian Bayford said he would like to see that road tidied up and believed this nursery application could be acceptable, but said he would have to see more details when it is discussed by the planning committee – which is likely to be in January.

If given permission, the nursery could be operating within 12 months of approval.

It would be open from 7am to 6.30pm Monday to Friday.