CHESTERFIELD BC TO REVOKE DECISION ON PLANNING FOR CHANGE OF USE OF PREMISES

Joanne & Mark Burnand are Registered Childminders living in the Chesterfield area, caring for children from 25 families living in the local community. Joanne also cares for up to 20 children referred to her from social services, to provide much needed respite for families struggling to cope.

This week their world has been turned upside down. After a visit from Chesterfield Borough Council, they have been informed that they must now have to apply for planning permission to change the use of their family home into a nursery. Not only that, but they must also reduce the amount of children they care for.

Currently they have been registered and approved by Osted, the regulatory body for Childminding, to care for 10 children between them at any one time. Chesterfield Borough Council are suggesting that they reduce this by half. If this happens, Joanne and Mark will be earning between them £1200per month putting them on the poverty line and causing them to lose their family home and giving up the job that they are so passionate about.

This could possibly also cause the 25 working families that they cater for to give up their jobs , creating more strain on an already badly strained welfare state. The councils concerns are : the increased volume of traffic, parking issues, comings and goings to their premises and the 'potential' for the noise in the garden whilst children are playing.

Joanne has spoken to over 50 childminders in the local area. How many of them have restrictions in place for the ratio of children that they can care for? How many have applied for planning permission for change of use of premises? The answer is NONE. Why then, should Joanne and Mark be discriminated against?

These are Joannes words:
"Over the past 4 and a half years our neighbour has harassed us, doing her best to close us down as Registered childminders. She has contacted the police, council and Ofsted on many occasions, making absolutely absurd accusations. Each time we have been investigated by Ofsted, rightly so, and each accusation has proven to be malicious and unfounded. I have built my business up from nothing, and literally put my heart and soul into it. I dearly love every single child I care for! Now she has gone one step further and complained to planning at the council. This results in being told that we cannot now care for all of these children and that they are going to make a decision how many we can actually have. Even though we adhere to ratio, are insured and regulated by Ofsted, the council have decided that we do not have sufficient parking! No other childminder I know of has to have planning out, so why should I be persecuted because of one person? There is a possibility my family and I may lose our home, unless we can locate to different premises."

When registering with Ofsted, childminders are provided with a ratio of children they are allowed to care for. This surely should coincide with what local authorities allow? Apparently Ofsted and the local council do not share information!

Childminders are the backbone of the local economy. They provide high quality, affordable, consistent care for children, enabling families to go to work. Childminders do not do their job purely for the monetary gain. They do it out of their passion and commitment to the children they care for.

What will happen if every childminder had to have planning permission to work from their own home? Would all childminders pay the £335 fee to do this? What would happen if every childminder had to reduce the amount of children they care for, because they cannot provide off road parking?

There is already a shortage of after school care in our local community, with one of the few after school clubs closing last year.

Children are our future, and their care is paramount. Without childminders providing this much needed care, families would have to give up work, making an already struggling economy worse! Last year, Joanne provided a business plan to Derbyshire County Council to enable her to gain funding for play equipment for the children she cared for. Derbyshire County Council knew then how many children she cared for, but nothing was mentioned about her ratios or planning permission.

Joanne and Mark feel persecuted every time they use their garden. They live in a detached house with a large garden, yet they have to restrict the number of children using this outdoor space for fear of repercussions from this neighbour. The minded children know and respect the house rules. They know that if they get too noisy, they must go inside. Joanne and Mark do not work unsocial hours. They start at 7 am and finish at 7 pm. My own daughter is minded by Joanne and Mark, and my job involves unsociable hours. Therefore, my daughter sleeps over on these times, to prevent parking issues and noise, which could prove inconvenient to neighbours.

Joanne and Mark have offered to rent a house on the next street to theirs, but have been told by Chesterfield Borough Council that they would only be able to care for 3 children from this house. They have offered to build a double drive at the front of their home, and they have also offered to drive 6 of their minded children home at the end of the day. It appears that all of this is falling on deaf ears. How can one persons obsessiveness be allowed to cause so much hardship and stress to so many families?

Please, we ask you to sign this petition to get this decision revoked. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this.