Bid to block farm nursery

RESIDENTS of a rural community near Waldron turned out in force this week to object to plans for a nursery school in their neighbourhood.

More than a dozen locals of Foxhunt Green attended Monday s planning committee of Heathfield and Waldron Parish Council to voice opposition to a proposal to turn agricultural buildings at Kirby Farm into a private nursery.

Angry residents claimed the application would increase traffic in the area by 160 journeys a day on a dangerous stretch of road, and said the development would lead to a loss of privacy for neighbouring properties. They also said that the fee-paying nursery would not benefit inhabitants of the immediate area as most of the children would be coming from surrounding villages.

Despite the opposition, planning members voted 6-2 to support the application with reservations. The application comes from Haymakers nursery in Waldron, who are being forced to move out of their Back Lane premises at Haymakers Farm.

One resident said: 'I am concerned with the problems this will generate. The lane is hazardous at the best of times and to add another 160 vehicles would be asking for trouble. Schools are major generators of traffic and should have decent access to public transport.

However, the manager of Haymakers, Trish Pepper, said the school had not received 'a single complaint from residents in the 15 years it had been in Waldron.

'It is not a noisy primary school, she said. 'They are two to four year olds, and when they are there, there is not a noise. We ve had no complaints either for noise or for increased traffic.

Cllr Dick Angel said suggestions of an increase of traffic of up to 160 cars a day was 'spurious and added that one third of the current users of Haymakers come from East Hoathly and so drive down that lane already.

He said: 'Prior to this application, consideration was given to convert this building into a workshop, which surely would have caused more disturbance. That barn is in a run down condition and restoration should be welcomed. We shouldn t be stifling new initiatives..

Members voted to support the application with reservations. These were:

l to widen access to the site to allow two cars to pass;

l car parking spaces would need to be increased from 14 to 20;

l the size of future classes be restricted to 24; and

l afternoon classes should have a maximum of 12 children.

The application comes from Cllr John Chambers, who is a member of Heathfield and Waldron Parish Council s planning committee. He decided not to attend the meeting after declaring a direct interest in the application. All other members present declared a non-pecuniary interest in the proposal before discussing the plans. The application will now go before Wealden s planning members.