Farm to be converted into nursery to meet demand

The nursery would offer places for 81 children at Low Farm in Warmfield

A village farm is to be converted into a children’s nursery to help meet a "large shortfall" of childcare places.

Councillors have approved an application from New Moon Nurseries to create the facility, which has space for 81 children, at Low Farm in Warmfield, near Normanton.

The development was given the go ahead despite being located on green belt land, due to the "very special circumstances" created by the childcare shortage.

According to council documents Normanton faces a predicted shortfall of more than 200 childcare places by 2026, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Planning officers at Wakefield Council said: “Currently the childcare sufficiency assessment identifies a large shortfall of childcare places across the district of Wakefield.

"In the Normanton ward alone there is a large shortfall of places for 0-3 years.”

Since 1 September, working parents of children from nine months old can now access 15 hours a week of free childcare under a government scheme to help parents return to work.

The scheme is expected to be expanded to include all under-5s from late 2025.

New Moon Nurseries’ application said the plans would help meet the “government aspirations”, enabling parents to access or extend employment opportunities.

They said the site would employ 25 members of staff and be open from 07:30 to 18:00, Monday to Friday.

Under the scheme existing buildings on the site would be used as a children’s day care facility and there would also be an outdoor play area.

Two objections were raised about a possible lack of parking places, an increase in traffic and dangers caused by farm vehicles using Warmfield Lane.

Recommending the scheme for approval, the planning officer said: “Overall, it is considered that the very special circumstances presented in the local authority’s need to provide safe childcare places in a sustainable location would outweigh the potential impact on the openness of the green belt."

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