Day nursery conversion at The Royal Staff, Aldershot

“It is double fronted and two-storeys with residential accommodation ancillary to the public house on the first floor. External materials comprise cream painted render with slate hipped roof and chimney stacks. The pub has a long rectangular garden extending 32m from the rear elevation northeast to Holly Road, and the garden is fenced along Staff and Holly Road boundaries, partly with a rear awning against the rear of the pub. There is no off street parking for the pub.”

“Part of the awning and two outbuilding/structures will be removed. The nursery will operate from 08:00 to 18:00 with children attending different sessions within this time frame. Those children for whom the facility provides all year-round care can be on site from 08:00 until 18:00, while term time only children attend for shorter sessions from 09:00 to 15:00 and these are also broken into two sessions.”

“1-bed flats and 1 no. 2 bed flat (C3), with associated parking and landscaping on part of pub garden land’ was refused for the following reasons: 1.The application has not been supported by sufficient evidence to demonstrate satisfactorily that there is no longer term need for the public house and that the application property has been appropriately marketed as a public house.”

“The pub has been closed to customers since October 2022.”

“Policy IN2 (Infrastructure and Community Facilities) of the Local Plan encourages the Council to work with partners to ensure that infrastructure and community facilities are provided ‘in a timely and sustainable manner’ and new infrastructure should be located so it is accessible to all and compatible with the character and needs of the local community.”

“Chapter 8 of the NPPF also attaches great weight to the availability of a sufficient choice of early years education places to ‘meet the needs of existing and new communities’, and ‘Local planning authorities should take a proactive, positive and collaborative approach to meeting this requirement and to development that will widen choice in education’ (para 100).”

“The nursery will not provide staff parking. The parking standards for nurseries are 1 space per 2 full time staff. The parking standards for public houses are 1 space per 5sqm of bar area. The public house has a bar area of 25sqm, requiring 4-5 spaces and there is also the 3-bed managers flat on the first floor.”

“Sufficient marketing and viability information has been received in accordance with the relevant policies to demonstrate no longer term need of the public house. The proposed development will have an acceptable impact on the character and appearance of the site and surrounding area, on neighbouring amenity and on parking and highway safety.”

“Environmental Health Given the proposed hours of operation, Environmental Health would have no objections. The windows should be double glazed.”

“HCC Highways Development Planning The Highway Authority have no objection to the proposals. The TRICS assessment shows an existing trip generation of 1 trip in the weekday AM peak and 8 trips in the PM peak. This is compared with the 19 trips in the AM peak and 20 trips in the PM peak expected as part of the proposed nursery.”

“(i) Condition 5 of the recommendation be amended to include reference to the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015 (or any Order revoking and re-enacting that order); and…”

“(ii) the Executive Head of Property and Growth, in consultation with the Chair, be authorised to GRANT planning permission, subject to the Executive Head of Property and Growth and the Chair being satisfied that the marketing materials provided demonstrate that the asking price for the Public House was reasonable.”