Our Manchester nursery will be 'killed' if student tower block is built ‘three feet from play area’

A nursery will be ‘killed’ if a proposed 15-storey student accommodation tower is allowed to be built ‘three feet from its play area’.

Bosses at Paint Pots Nursery, on Charles Street in the city centre, say the planned block is ‘an existential threat’. Director Nichola Moss and founding partner Andrew Howarth fear the proposals, to be built on the car park of troubled residential building Bracken House next door, will ‘take all our light’ and render their play area unusable during the ‘76 week build’.

Paint Pots owns the bottom floor of Bracken House, but the pair claim planning approval will mean they have to move out and lease the unit out to another business. The bid is recommended for approval when it goes before the council’s planning committee next Thursday, March 14.

“I am fighting for my business and my staff and what is one of only three nurseries in the city centre,” Andrew said. “It will kill my business and the garage behind and make 25 of my staff redundant.”

He added that, if he were to shut his doors, that would represent a loss of 81 childcare places in the Deansgate and Piccadilly wards of the city — with the nursery serving residents in both. That, he argued, would mean ‘there’s not a cat in hell’s chance of meeting’ future demand in the area.

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He went on: “Overall Manchester will need a four percent increase in childcare [provision] up to 2031, but Deansgate’s and Piccadilly’s [populations are] due to expand by 90 percent and 66 percent respectively over those years. We need more provision, not less. Why does the PBSA take priority over what all families moving to town need? I find it astonishing.”

For his part, Mike Bathurst, the managing director of Jadebricks says the firm will ‘work with a highly reputable contractor to minimise disruption to the nursery’s routine’.

He added in a statement: “As a Manchester-based developer, the interests of all our neighbours, including Paint Pots Nursery, are extremely important to us. In putting together our plans for this vacant brownfield development site in the heart of the city centre, we have engaged extensively with the owners of Paint Pots, in the preparation of our planning application.

“The regeneration of the site, which has been left in an undesirable state for a number of years, will deliver significant benefits to the nursery, including a new, security-controlled, attractive and well-signposted entrance from Charles Street, to help improve safety and security at drop-offs and pick-ups.

“The application, which has been recommended for approval by officers, confirms there are no technical impacts that cannot be managed to comply with relevant guidance. Jadebricks is working with a highly reputable contractor to minimise disruption to the nursery’s routine during construction to a higher level of detail that would normally be expected. Jadebricks have been praised for the thoroughness of their engagement with neighbours and remain open to further discussions to ensure the best possible position for the future of all parties going forward.”

The planning committee will meet at 2pm on Thursday, March 14. The item is just one of four on the planning committee agenda next week. The other three include a return of a plan to convert a vacant probation centre into a homeless shelter in Wythenshawe, a similar plan in south Manchester, and a bid to build an extension in a conservation area.