New nursery for village

raising vital funds to help are delighted to have been A new early learning centre is to be built in Chapelhall, providing 40 full- time equivalent places for youngsters aged three to five.

The facility, which will be on grassland at Centre Street, is one of nine to be constructed across North Lanarkshire under the council’s early years expansion programme.

Councillors on North Lanarkshire’s planning committee gave the green light for the development during a meeting.

Located on the edge of Chapelhall, the site is currently designated as greenbelt; it is currently used as a public recreation area and includes a blaes pitch, described as being “in poor condition”.

Members heard there had been no objections registered and that the nursery building would an “acceptable departure from the development plan” as it would “enhance the surrounding area and continue its community use by facilitating a muchneeded nursery”.

Nine staff members will work at the nursery, which will be an open-plan space inside a single-storey building and will be “orientated to allow an open aspect; the nursery has the potential to access the adjacent forest zone”.

A report by planners said: “It is an educational facility viewed to be compatible 01698 302660. with its natural setting; the site is on the fringe of the greenbelt and has previously been used as a community sports facility.

“The nursery is to serve a specific new development demand unlikely to be accommodated within the immediate area, and in use terms is compatible with the current community use of the site.

“It is likely to have a positive economic benefit, with minimal environmental impact due to its size and nature [and] is unlikely to result in undue infrastructure implications [or] to have any detriment to residential amenity.”

The nursery is to have 17 parking spaces in a barrier-controlled car park, separate pedestrian and vehicular accesses and will retain the footpath linking the site to nearby Budshaw Avenue.

Planners added that the proposed parking would be sufficient “due to the staggered nature of nursery pick- ups and dropoffs and the need to accommodate other transport modes such as walking and cycling, especially given that the site was chosen due to its central location in the community.

“A separate pedestrian entrance directly from Centre Street will be distanced from manoeuvring cars, allowing for safer access to the nursery and thereby encouraging users to walk.”