Thatcham nursery plans for a full house

Proposals to turn Beenham pub into centre for 120 children

A WEST Berkshire nursery is hoping to convert Beenham’s Winning Hand pub.

Tigers Day Nursery wants to change the inn, which closed in 2015, into a nursery capable of caring for 120 children aged from three months to five years.

The nursery would be open from 7.45am until 6.15pm, Monday to Friday, and Tigers is planning to increase the number of parking spaces from 30 to 39.

The new nursery would employ 15 full-time and five part-time staff.

Tigers said that reducing the A4 from a dual carriageway to single lane had reduced the speed of traffic near the former pub.

The nursery said the site has good links to public transport through a nearby bus stop and Theale Railway Station, 2.6 miles away.

Tigers is hoping to make the pub three of a kind as it runs a nursery at Turnpike and in Thatcham town centre.

It runs a minibus to pick up and drop off staff and children.

Stating its case for converting the pub, Tigers said: “Numbers of children requiring day care is on the increase and there is currently a waiting list for spaces.

“Being a successful established business will ensure the proposed change of use, if granted, will provide a necessary asset to the community, while providing much needed local employment.”

Commenting on the application, Beenham resident Jacqueline Johnson said that, while the application looked good, she had concerns about having to cross the A4.

West Berkshire Council’s highways department shares the concerns, asking whether 39 parking spaces would be sufficient for the number of vehicles using the proposed nursery.

The council said that people would drive to the relatively remote site and that 480 vehicle movements could be generated each day by parents dropping off and picking up children.

The 20 staff would also produce 40 vehicle movements daily and only 19 parking spaces would be left for parents.

The council said that it required more information on the application before it could reach a decision.

And the council’s environmental health department has raised concerns about noise disturbance to a nearby property and how this would be minimised.

The council also said that the plan did not show an outdoor play area for the children.

A decision is expected from West Berkshire Council by Thursday, April 21.

To view the application enter 16/00581/FUL into the council’s planning website.