Hello Beno,

Dos'nt surprise me about your councils attitude.  (Despite E P Act 1990, MANY councils administer their statutory duties...in a less than satisfactory manner)

I wonder if you've thought of F O I site "what do they know" ???

We have explored just about every avenue to tackle this problem and had no luck. The nursery are not interested in talking at all (and common sense doesn't seem to come into it with these people); the council, in typical fashion, are only interested in parking arrangements - the only subject to which we have ever had a full response in twenty five or so years of living here; i guess this is the trade off for reasonably low rates. We are unwilling to take it to an Ombudsman since that would then force us to declare 'dispute with neighbor' if/when we decide to cut our losses and sell the house - which would further decrease the value of the property and potentially make it much harder to sell. Our local MP is a bit rubbish and doesn't respond to letters on any subject, let alone the impact of childcare in the local area; MP's saying negative things about a nursery on behalf of a few households don't go down well - you'd think that some of them were in politics for a career rather than to listen to the opinions of their local constituency 

Its been while since I looked, myself, at the planning bumpf that was set down by the local council, but short of the most basic provisions about numbers of pupils etc there is very, very little restriction on the use of the premises. However, without a thorough review of the legal structure (or lack of) surrounding the operation of these kinds of establishments there is little that can be done if the council decide to turn a blind eye and the nursery business refuses to co-operate with residents, unfortunately.

About the only issue we have met with any success with is building working on Bank Holiday weekends since these things are *actually* controlled by law in an unequivocal manner by the Env.Health Act. But the fact that they tried to get away with it and we had to go round waving a copy of said EH Act at 6.00pm on a Sunday speaks volumes in itself. Oh and the time I went ballistic at their gardener for starting up the leaf-blower on a Sunday morning at 7.00am... at least they don't start til 8am now and keep it to Saturdays 

The livestock isn't too bad yet but we fear it may eventually turn into a full on zoo. Who knows - i wouldn't put it past them.

They get reasonable reports from Ofsted so I can only presume they are fully qualified etc otherwise Ofsted would be failing miserably in their duties - which is unlikely to be honest.

The trouble with the late night parties (which are thankfully few and far between) is that they will be 'one-offs' and therefore no-one will come to inspect this offensive behavior. Again getting the police involved would only lead to the aforementioned 'dispute with neighbor' problem.

What is so appalling is the complete disregard, primarily by the council and latterly by the business itself, for the impact that they are having on our quality of life in what has always and could still be an extremely desirable, quiet and peaceful corner of town.

Hello Beno,

Welcome to our Oasis for the weary.

After reading I'm wondering how large this child site will actually be....as far down as Heathrow maybe....

a sister nursery in France....

Livestock....presumably not currently a nusience...but an extra for the children.

Presumably the nursery is all registered, staff ratio's to children ok.....

Have you and fellow neighbours pushed for MEDIATION ???

There appears issues that with a tad common sense could be easily remedied, for example the worker with the "voice".....

the Socials with the bands/music is something E H could deal with....it is not sufficient to advise of a forthcoming disturbance...

Up against the Council with their bottomless pockets engaged in legal action would appear to me a road to no-where....

but said Council is funded by the ratepayers....of which you and fellow neighbours contribute.....

was this nursery given NO boundaries at planning stages.....

surely this IS something your local councillor/MP even could intervene on.....

I'm sure there are members with more knowledge than I.....

Just came across this thread and decided to post up our own situation for the record and to see if anyone has any thoughts on the matter.

Our neighbor started up a nursery a number of years ago (2004 maybe?). The planning stage was rushed through and the council waived the need for a proper impact assessment at the request of the owner (would put too much risk into the business or some-such nonsense) without allowing other parties any time to challenge this decision. They have subsequently agreed to increase the allowed number of children. They now have 111 registered children with a 101 child limit at any one time with operating hours from 7.30am-8pm. The business is open all year round and we frequently have weekends ruined by garden parties for the parents, sports days and have even had "evening" garden parties with bands playing 'til 1am - these bands are described as being indoors but since they, as usual, had the doors WIDE OPEN ONTO THE GARDEN I think that description is fairly invalid.

It would be nice to say that the children play outside for 'up to three or four hours at a time' but it is more accurate to say they are inside for up to two hours at a time, around lunch, if the weather is anything other than a thunder storm. They have goats, chickens and god knows what other animals in the next garden over, which the owner bought after the previous, elderly, occupants had had enough and decided to move out.

The noise from the children would probably be bearable if it weren't for the excessive whooping, yelping, shouting and screaming of the workers - one in particular who is so thoughtless and inconsiderate as to stand at the bottom of the garden at 7:15am shouting to the other workers in the house on a fairly regular basis and whose voice is clearly discernible above the general crying, squealing and screeching of the children.

Even 'indoor' time is clearly audible since they tend to keep all the windows open, again, unless there is a thunderstorm. The fact that they have a purpose built structure in the garden to accommodate the increased number of children doesn't really help much since they often have all the doors and windows open for that as well. Its incredible to find just how quiet the neighborhood is when the nursery give us pause actually listen - despite being under the Heathrow flight path

We were met with an astonishingly rude and obnoxious response when we approached the manager with our concerns and the local council are not in the least bit interested and can only be bothered to send us 'acknowledgement' of our complaints and an information pack about how to bring court proceedings, of which we have quite a few now.  All the other nearby residents have, as I said, either been bought out by the owner - it seems to keep them quiet - or just don't seem to care or notice!!!

After seeking legal advice we have found that since the council's planning rules for the business are so lax there is nothing that we can do short of forking out a considerable amount of money in legal fees (yes, we're talking tens of thousands here) to take the local council to court about their failings in regards to the planning system and our chances of winning are slim to non-existent since the council have every right to set whatever rules they wish and the laws regarding nurseries are, well, there aren't really any are there (unlike Australia where they have strict standards and codes of practice to safeguard local residents).

Okay guys - lets all calm down here and look at this using the correct rules and regulations.  First up - my wife is a registered childminder and I have recently gone through all of the hoops for this so here is some information to consider.

1)  The correct legislative body for this is OFSTED.
2)  http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/children-and-families-services
3)  Childminders working from domestic prooperties need to be registered with OFSTED in the early years register or there is a voluntary register they may come under.
4)  They require Public Liability Insurance.
5)  They need to be Enhanced CRB cleared.
6)  They do not need permission from the council unless they are renting the home from the council.

I would suggest the best thing any of you can do is contact OFSTED (see link) and make a complaint about the neighbours and leave it for OFSTED to look into.  Alternatively contact ofsted and advise that you are considering using your neighbours service and you want to confirm that your neighbour is registered etc - ofsted should then be able to confirm if the neighbour is registered or not - if not you can then make a formal complaint and have them closed down.

Ofsted Helpdesk:  0300 123 3153

I would of course caution anyone about making eronious complaints simply to get the neighbour shut down because you dont like them.  Such complaints could affect this woman and/or her family for decades to come so make sure there is reason to complain before progressing.

http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/factsheet-childcare-concerns-and-complaints-about-childcare-providers

Contact other neighbours in the area and see if they will give you support - the council may be more likely to listen to more.than one complainant

ahhh this is a difficult one...dont they need to have things reviewed reguarly? didnt any of the other neighbours object at the time?

I fully sympathise...... We moved into our house around 2 years ago and were told that the nursery next door only allowed the children out once a day.  Things have now changed and it can be all morning or all afternoon..and that is up to 15 small children in a tiny garden area which I am sure is far too small for them.  How did they get planning permission?  The house we live in was owned by the father of the girl who bought the nursery and there were therefore no objections.   The nursery is bang in the middle of a residental area and at 7.45 the kids come screaming down the lane (I dont expect they would do that in their own street!! and for the rest of the day we are subject to these episodes.

Any ideas about how to deal with this would be much appreciated....the Council dont want to know but the screaming is unbearable but it doesnt seem to matter as long as the owner is making money and that is ALL she is interested in!

We live in Fife!

t

today there was birthday party in the back garden such screaming fun. Were is health and safty in all this , she wanders down the pavment from the school her and her helper both pushing prams both with four children hanging on to the sides its only a matter of time before one gets on the road god forbid and gots hit by a car

Karen, the children noise issue in a business setting isn't the same as in a residential situation, and the rules may well be different in your area. Please contact the Environmental Health department at your local council, and make sure you mention that you're also worried about the Health and Safety situation. I suspect that the 'sheds' are garden buildings, rather than small store type sheds, but the H&S issue is still relevant. For example, if there are very young children, are they likely to get splinters in themselves, and are the floors of these buildings covered? Are there pets wandering aroud with the children? Unless ALL places that the children are likely to play have been checked by the council, then the children shouldn't be there!

I suspect, Karen, that English isn't your first language. No problem, but could you try to write slightly shorter sentences, please, as it's quite difficult to work out what you're saying.

I wonder is she allowed to use the sheds for that purpose.

That sounds dreadful. Are the other residents not in support of your objection to this 'at home' nursery?

sorry? it is the first warm day of the year and she has then all outside well she has put up two large out door rooms{sheads} so her house dose not get spoild and am left shaking and I will never enjoy my garden again

hi i have a childminder next to me she her daughter mother and husband and sometimes other paid help work at this small house she works any time this includes all day every day she usually starts at 6.30am till 7.30pm but she has over nights and weekend both houses are for sale ever side of her we stand to lose out on thousands and we recon shes on 70 80 grand most i counted is18 children i complaind to every one and no one gives dam and nose is so loud with doors and shut istill carn t here tv iask them not park over the drive and he s thretend me now every time i go in the garden teenagers stero out of the back window the sadest thing is i am paying the same raters as her they residentel street screeming war zone it 5pm you carnt hear your self think and shes making money over fist and it wrong while her niegours have to docs about there shatted nerves