Carleton nursery welcomes extra time to remove 'eyesore' structure

A children's nursery which was ordered to remove a controversial plastic-clad wall on the outside of a flat roof play area has been given more time to take it down.

It follows a furore last year when the brown and beige structure, on the second storey of the Little Explorers Nursery on Fleetwood Road, Carleton, was blasted by neighbours for being an "eyesore".

The nursery was forced to re-apply for planning permission after putting up the timber and plastic-clad walls instead of the glass panelling which had it had been given permission for.

The walls created an extra enclosed area on the roof, for the children to play in.

But Wyre planners refused permission for the plastic clad design, and when the nursery unsuccessfully appealed it was given just 28 days, last November, to remove the lighgtweight walls.

However, the nursery said this was not enough time and appealed again.

And in this latest appeal has been upheld by the inspector, now giving Little Explorers three months in which to remove the structure, while preparing new plans.

Emma Rathbone, owner of the nursery said: "We never wanted to upset anyone with the screen walls.

"We just felt the glass design we had permission for didn't give the children enough privacy from neighbours, so we put up screens we thought were more appropriate.

"We were quite surprised by the angry reaction.

"The result of the latest appeal is very welcome, we have much more time to remove it, while coming up with a new design which we hope will please everyone.

"Our first thought was simply to give a small group of our younger children a nice play area, away from the older children, and ensure they had privacy."

Planning inspector Alexander Walker, in upholding the appeal, accepted that while the screens would not take long to remove, there was an element of disruption to nursery business, further complicated by the Covid-19 pandemic, and felt extra time would be appropriate