Quackers Day Nursery, High Street, Chieveley, NEWBURY, RG20 8TE

Quackers Day Nursery, High Street, Chieveley, NEWBURY, RG20 8TE — West Berkshire District Council — Appeal Decision Site visit made on 16 July 2025 by D Wilson BSc (Hons) MRTPI an Inspector appointed by the Secretary of State Decision date: 5 August 2025 Appeal Ref: APP/W0340/W/25/3363471 Quackers Day Nursery, High Street, Chieveley, Newbury, West Berkshire RG20 8TE • The appeal is made under section 78 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended) against a refusal to grant planning permission. • The appeal is made by Mr Anthony Pickford on behalf of Quackers Day Nursery Ltd against the decision of West Berkshire District Council. • The application Ref is 24/02692/FUL. • The development proposed is erection of a single storey detached classroom, and re-location of fence between the side of the day nursery and north side boundary of the site. Decision 1. The appeal is allowed and planning permission is granted for erection of a single storey detached classroom, and re-location of fence between the side of the day nursery and north side boundary of the site at Quackers Day Nursery, High Street, Chieveley, Newbury, West Berkshire RG20 8TE in accordance with the terms of the application, Ref 24/02692/FUL subject to the conditions in the attached schedule. Main Issue 2.

Quackers Day Nursery, High Street, Chieveley, NEWBURY, RG20 8TE — West Berkshire District Council — Appeal Decision The main issue is the impact of the proposed development on highway safety. Reasons 3. The appeal site contains a two-storey building which is currently being used as a day nursery. To the rear of the appeal site is a large garden area which is where the development is proposed to be sited. The building fronts High Street and there are six marked parking spaces to the front. The appellant also states that the nursery have use of twelve spaces within the village hall car park which is a short walking distance away. 4. The appeal site is located within the village of Chieveley, and it is clear from the evidence before me and from site observations that car parking takes place on the road, particularly on the same side of the road that the appeal site is located. 5. The proposed development would enable up to a further fifteen children to attend the nursery and to accommodate this, up to four further staff members would be required. https://www.gov.uk/planning-inspectorate

Quackers Day Nursery, High Street, Chieveley, NEWBURY, RG20 8TE — West Berkshire District Council — Appeal Decision Appeal Decision APP/W0340/W/25/3363471 6. The Council have stated that a specific demand for early years placements in the village has not been demonstrated. However, the appellant has provided documents that demonstrate that there are twenty children on the waiting list for nursery places. The Council state that while demand has been shown, they question how this demand relates to the need for such facilities within Chieveley as a whole, however, there does not appear to be any Policy that requires this. In any case, its reasonable to expect those on the waiting list to be located within a close distance to the appeal site. 7. In any case, the Paragraph 100 of the National Planning Policy Framework (the Framework) states that it is important that a sufficient choice of early years, school and post-16 places are available to meet the needs of existing and new communities. Local planning authorities should take a proactive, positive and collaborative approach to meeting this requirement, and to development that will widen choice in education. It states that great weight should be given to the need to create, expand or alter early years.

Quackers Day Nursery, High Street, Chieveley, NEWBURY, RG20 8TE — West Berkshire District Council — Appeal Decision Based on the demand that has been shown and the proposal to expand early years provision to meet this demand, I am satisfied that this attracts great weight in favour of the appeal in line with Paragraph 100 of the Framework. 8. Drop of and pick up times are staggered throughout the day; some parents attend with more than one child and some children only attend on a term time basis. This means that demand for parking is spread out over the course of the day and varies during the school holidays. The appellant’s Transport Technical Note 12 December 2024 found that the proposed development could result in forty two-way vehicle movements over the course of the day. A typical daily parking accumulation has been calculated within the technical note, and it found that there would be an excess of three vehicles within the morning peak and four vehicles in the evening peak. 9. These vehicles would be displaced onto the road and would most likely seek to park close to the nursery. This parking is most likely to take place opposite the nursery, towards the village hall due to the presence of a crossing and dropped kerbs in the other direction.

Quackers Day Nursery, High Street, Chieveley, NEWBURY, RG20 8TE — West Berkshire District Council — Appeal Decision Visibility is generally good due to the straightness of the road and the presence of parked cars is likely to mean that drivers would be using the road with caution and at lower speeds. It is unlikely that people would park near to the crossing and therefore the visibility of pedestrians using this is unlikely to be impacted. 10. The nursery is well located with access to public transport and could be accessed by walking for those that live within Chieveley. In this regard, I am mindful of the benefits that a travel plan could achieve in mitigating the increased parking demand. This could be used to encourage other means of transport such as public transport and car sharing, it could also enable to nursery to manage parking at peak times to encourage quick drop off and collections. This would also mitigate the additional manoeuvres when using the front of the appeal site to not worsen the exisiting situation. https://www.gov.uk/planning-inspectorate 2

Quackers Day Nursery, High Street, Chieveley, NEWBURY, RG20 8TE — West Berkshire District Council — Appeal Decision Appeal Decision APP/W0340/W/25/3363471 11. I therefore conclude that the proposed development would not unacceptably harm highway safety. I find no conflict with Paragraph 116 of the Framework and Policy CS13 of the West Berkshire District Core Strategy (2006 to 2026) Development Plan Document Adopted July 2012 West Berkshire Local Plan. Amongst other things, these seek to ensure that developments mitigate the impact on the local transport network and the strategic road network and do not result in a unacceptable impact on highway safety. Other Matters 12. I note that the Council raise concern in relation to the use of the village hall car park, which the nursery uses for some staff parking. However, the village hall car park is large with a high number of spaces which gives access to a number of facilities. There appears to be no parking restrictions that would prevent the nursery or other users from using this car park and there is no evidence that this facility would be removed. It also forms part of the exisiting situation with regard to the use of the appeal site and appears to have been used for some time. 13.

Quackers Day Nursery, High Street, Chieveley, NEWBURY, RG20 8TE — West Berkshire District Council — Appeal Decision I note the concerns from interested parties in relation to noise and harm to the character and appearance of the area. However, the Council have found that the proposed development would not harm the character and appearance of the area or the living conditions of neighbouring occupiers. I have no reason to conclude otherwise. Conditions 14. Condition 1 is the standard condition that relates to the commencement of development and condition 2 specifies the approved plans for the avoidance of doubt. Condition 3 specifies the materials to be used in order to protect the character and appearance of the area. Condition 4 requires that a travel plan is submitted to and approved by the Council in order to reduce reliance on private motor vehicles and mitigate the impact of increase vehicle movements. Conclusion 15. For the reasons given above the appeal should be allowed.

Quackers Day Nursery, High Street, Chieveley, NEWBURY, RG20 8TE — West Berkshire District Council — D Wilson INSPECTOR https://www.gov.uk/planning-inspectorate 3

Quackers Day Nursery, High Street, Chieveley, NEWBURY, RG20 8TE — West Berkshire District Council — D Wilson INSPECTOR https://www.gov.uk/planning-inspectorate 3

Quackers Day Nursery, High Street, Chieveley, NEWBURY, RG20 8TE — West Berkshire District Council — D Wilson Appeal Decision APP/W0340/W/25/3363471 Schedule of Conditions 1. The development hereby permitted shall begin not later than three years from the date of this decision. 2. The development hereby permitted shall be carried out in accordance with drawing nos: Site Location, Site Plan and Fence 51545-XX-P1-01 Issue v4 Proposed Outdoor Classroom 51545-XX-P2-01 Issue v2 3. The materials to be used in the development hereby permitted shall be as specified on the plans and application form. 4. The development shall not be brought into first use until a Day Nursery Travel Plan has been submitted to the Local Planning Authority and approved in writing. The Travel Plan should relate to the whole nursery site and its associated activities. The Day Nursery shall implement the approved Travel Plan from first use of the development and the Travel Plan should be reviewed, and updated if necessary, within 6 months of first implementation. After that the Travel Plan shall be annually reviewed and updated and all reasonable practicable steps made to achieve and maintain the agreed targets within the timescales set out in the approved plan and any subsequent revisions. https://www.gov.uk/planning-inspectorate 4