Battle over future of Newport children’s nursery set to take a new twist
Owners of a garden centre site near Newport have lodged a planning appeal in the latest twist in a battle to relocate a children’s nursery.
Mohawk Investments Limited says that Telford & Wrekin Council planners may have overstepped their power by refusing planning permission in January 2025 and “disagreeing with the business case for the move of Childrensworld to a different part of the site”.
There have been several attempts made through the planning system to try to persuade planners to give the move their approval. Following the refusal of permission in January, a spokesperson for Childrensworld Newport called the decision “perverse”.
Planning agents Plan A (North West) have told the Planning Inspectorate: “Despite the compelling nature of the business case, it has been rejected as being insufficient by the council because Blue Diamond (the new name for Mohawk) has not made any car parking available within the existing garden centre car park to support the function of the nursery,” write
The plan includes putting a new car park for the nursery on what the council “perceives to be greenfield land” close Unit 4, which was formerly the base of Outdoor Focus.
They add that the council’s own case is undermined by the emerging Local Plan Review, “which seeks to remove the appeal site from the rural area and to direct new development towards adjoining land.”
The agents say it is “not for the council to determine whether it agrees with the business case presented or not.
“Indeed, any rejection of, or disagreement with, the business case may be tantamount to the council making an inappropriate business decision on behalf of Blue Diamond, which is ultra vires.”
The agents also say it is a “misapplication of policy to blend the requirements of different policies in order to engineer grounds of resistance.
“It is wholly unacceptable for the council to reject the proposed investment and growth of two businesses on grounds that are not applicable to it,” they add.
The relocated nursery would provide a total capacity of 118 children, which would support rural children and jobs, the appellants say. The council has opposed the move because it disagrees with it supporting the rural economy.
Blue Diamond is the second largest garden centre operator in the UK, and completed the acquisition of Mere Park Garden Centre in November 2021.
Since then it has been changing the site and plans to make further changes once the children’s nursery has been relocated. They allege that the council is in effect blocking growth.
The agents say that Blue Diamond, as Childrensworld’s new landlord, has not put the nursery under pressure to move and has its agreement.
“ChildrensWorld was content to sign this legal agreement because it created an opportunity that was highly advantageous to the nursery for a range of reasons,” the agents say.
The agents conclude that it has been “comprehensively demonstrated that the principle of the proposed development, which is simply to relocate the existing ChildrensWorld Nursery from one side of Mere Park Garden Centre to another, fully accords with the requirements of all applicable policies.”
The council, which does not comment on live planning appeals, will have the opportunity to put its full case to the Planning Inspectorate before an inspector makes a decision.
