Neighbours living next to a popular Bristol nursery have complained about the noise from children playing in the garden. The nursery is applying to Bristol City Council to expand its provision by a third, with up to 60 children attending at any one time.
But the concerns about the expansion of Zebedees Nursery, on Walsingham Road, in St Andrew’s, also included parking pressures and traffic bottlenecks, as parents drive there to pick up and drop off children, and an “unsightly” bicycle shed in front of the building.
The application will be considered by councillors on the development control B committee on Wednesday, March 12. A council planning officer has recommended that they vote to grant permission for the expansion, but several locals wrote to the council urging them to reject it.
One neighbour said: “The noise from the nursery is not insignificant. It travels and it is often difficult to hold conversation outside when the children are outside. More children will mean that the garden is in use more often in rotation, possibly increasing noise nuisance for more hours of the day.”
Another added: “This is a quiet neighbourhood, the children are already very loud. One child shouting is OK, 60 times that screaming and shouting in the neighbouring garden is too much. More nursery-age children will just increase the daily noise nuisance.”
Childcare across the country is in crisis, with lots of parents struggling to afford fees and nurseries fighting to stay open. Many supporters of the nursery also wrote to the planning department, explaining how Zebedees provides a vital service to the local community.
One parent said: “As a local family with two working parents the service Zebedees provides is absolutely critical to us. We have one child attending currently and hope to have another in the future. The extra capacity is really needed by us and many other parents in the area.
“We regularly receive reminders and instructions on how to considerately do drop off and pick up so as not to disturb the neighbours. Like many of the parents I know at Zebedees, I do pick and drop off on foot or by bike.”
The nursery initially applied for planning permission in June 2023, and has suffered from the council’s huge backlog of processing planning applications. According to the council, the nursery has already expanded to look after up to 60 children at one time, and so the application is retrospective. The nursery only has permission for 45 children to attend at the moment.
In planning documents, agents representing Zebedees said: “The site is located within easy walking distance for parents in St Andrews and the survey of travel habits above identifies that most families do indeed walk to the premises. Many nurseries and pre-school facilities in the area are over-subscribed and have significant waiting lists for new children.
“Therefore the demand for Zebedees and the facilities it offers is high. Any reduction in the numbers of children attending the nursery would not only impact the nursery, but would not easily be absorbed into other facilities in the local community.”
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