A SALISBURY nursery's £1.8 million expansion plans look to be all but over after Wiltshire Council revealed it can't back the scheme as the developer's demands "undermine the local plan".
It comes less than a day after Old Sarum Nursery's last-ditched plea for the authority and developer Persimmon Homes to come to an agreement over the proposals – which could've secured places for up to 200 more children in the area.
READ MORE: Plea to start £1.8m nursery expansion
However, children's services head Councillor Laura Mayes says the council won't be entering into an agreement with the firm.
As reported, Persimmon agreed to pledge to £1.2 million to the scheme, but now the county authority has claimed this was as long as the developer secured planning permission to build homes on land nearby – which has already been earmarked for business use.
Cllr Mayes said: “In the case of Old Sarum Nursery, their proposed solution was to raise the match-funding through a developer contribution secured from building houses on employment land nearby.
"This is not something the council can progress because it undermines the local plan. We cannot change planning policy simply because a developer offers to fund a community facility on the condition it receives planning permission. This would breach planning legislation – it would also likely be challenged and overturned by a planning inspector.
“We have been keeping the nursery and the local [councillor] informed about the problems with this issue throughout this process and strongly advised them to stop funding their expansion plans.
“We’ve offered to work with the nursery in the future as they consider other options.”
As reported, the nursery has already spent more than £80,000 to meet planning requirements.
She added: "We successfully secured £1.4m government capital funding to create additional nursery places across Wiltshire back in 2016. I’m pleased that five of these nurseries now have the much-needed provision in place offering an additional 132 places."
Old Sarum Nursery and Persimmon Homes have been approached for comment.
Speaking yesterday, a spokesperson for Persimmon Homes said: “Persimmon supports the proposed scheme at Old Sarum which includes a new nursey school provision and further housing.
“We will continue to work with Wiltshire Council and the nursery school provider to explore how we can work together to deliver the scheme.”
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