Extra nursery places set to be created at a Denmead primary school to meet demand

A planning application has been submitted for the erection of a modular nursery building that will provide an extra 35 nursery places in the area. The building will be a daycare provision that will operate from 8am until 6pm Monday to Friday, plans submitted to Hampshire County Council (HCC) show.

If approved, it would be a permanent addition to Denmead Junior School which currently has 357 pupils from ages seven to 11.

HCC’s planning statement indicated that the nursery will have two main rooms for two age groups. There will also be a third room, which the junior school will use for “wrap-around” care. The building will be located at the edge of the school field in a grassed area adjacent to the main entrance. It will have a hard and soft play area, which will be fenced off from the junior school, alongside a freestanding canopy that will be installed to enable outside play during all weathers.

No additional parking spaces will be added, but an accessible parking space will be created. In addition, there is a parking area outside the school grounds with 28 places. The county council planning statement estimates that work to add the nursery would only take 12 weeks.

Public consultation will be open from November 1 to November 29. To submit comments on application HCC/2023/0601, visit Hampshire County Council’s planning portal.