New children’s nursery planned for farm near Boroughbridge

A planning application has been lodged with North Yorkshire Council by Ben and Emma Mosey, who run the Yolk Farm and Minskip Farm Shop on Minskip Road.

The setting would be on the farm and offer 74 full-day places available for children aged 0 to 5. It would be open for 51 weeks a year.

The nursery would create 18 jobs and be based around the Curiosity and Forest School approaches, which aims to support children’s independence through outdoor learning.

Documents state the owners have diversified the farm in recent years with a cafe, farm shop and dog walking area but they and want to add a nursery “to create an experience which is safe, fun and educational for children.”

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

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

Childcare in the UK is among the most expensive in the world and the government announced last month it will expand free childcare for working parents in England by September 2025 to help more parents get back to work.

Documents state: “The subject proposal continues the established trend of successful diversification at Minskip Farm which plays host to a popular café, farm shop and dog walking field.

"Indeed, the provision of an on-site nursery will support the sustainability of extant commercial operations on site, drawing additional footfall to increase trade.

“It is considered that the subject site represents the optimum setting for the establishment of a children’s day nursery, providing children with access to nature and farming activities within a safe, controlled environment, parents with access to the dog walking, café and shopping facilities associated with Yolk Farm, and being accessible from Boroughbridge by public footway, with a bus stop also nearby.”