North Yorkshire Council rejects plans for new children’s nursery at farm near Boroughbridge

Plans were submitted in March by Ben and Emma Mosey, who run Yolk Farm and Minskip Farm Shop on Minskip Road.

The nursery would offer 74 full-day places and be based around the curiosity and forest school approaches, which encourage independence through outdoor learning.

However, in its refusal notice the council said the plans fall outside of development limits and the applicants failed to show how the nursery would diversify their farming business.

According to the application, there is a high demand for early years places in the area because there are 229 nursery-aged children in Boroughbridge but only 85 spaces.

The intended manager of the nursery, Tracey Roberts of Tiddlywinks Private Day Nurseries, has over 20 years in the early years sector and has achieved an outstanding Ofsted rating at Tiddlywinks’ York and Easingwold nurseries.

But the council said the plans failed to show that there is a need for the nursery in the area.

North Yorkshire Council’s assistant director of planning Trevor Watson wrote: “The proposal is for a new community facility however the application fails to demonstrate that there is a local need for the nursery in this location, that it is of a scale and nature appropriate to its location and intended purpose and that it is accessible to its intended community.”

Mr Watson was also not satisfied with the location of the proposed nursery, saying the new building would result in a “visually intrusive and incongruous development” that would harm the rural location.

He added: “There are no public benefits associated with the proposal that would outweigh the harm.”

Despite not winning backing from the council’s planning department, the economic development team did give it their approval.

A council officer wrote: “It will enable the expansion of an existing business into the Boroughbridge area, generating employment and supporting farm diversification.”

The applicants are able to appeal the decision.