I do think Gingernuts post is very enlightening. Some elderly people might want to pootle around their garden indeed and have a quiet life but do they necessarily have an absolute right to do it to the exclusion of all other interests that there are in life. I have always felt that this issue was about some elderly retirees wanting this sort of life versus young families and other elderly retirees wanting to live in a mixed community and to have childcare fairly close to where they live. If people want a quiet life then shouldn they really find a sheltered scheme somewhere where children may visit but not stay overnight?

The anti child stance isnt exclusive to Tewkesbury Lodge. The nursery at Lammas Green had a hard time from the estates elderly residents when it changed ownership and wanted longer hours. Restrictions were placed on the nursery by the residents which meant that families had to walk around the long way to get into the nursery rather than come in through the adjacent gate which would have been more convenient in unclement weather. Objections were also raised at parents collecting children sitting on the grass and feeding their younger children. You might think that the green itself would be a great outdoor place to play but the nursery can actually only use this twice a year for specially arranged events. All this bearing in mind that the residents actually benefitted financially from the nursery income by way of rent for the community hall. As a parent of a child there I felt that my children were entertained under suffrance by the local residents.
Other nurseries seeking to expand also faced some very unreasonable objections, fortunately to no avail.

In all, nurseries tend to have younger, happy, compliant children compared to schools. They spend some time outdoors playing happily and usually actually more co operatively than older children. They also spend lot of time indoors having snacks and having naps.
I read somewhere that being around young children was better than medication, lowered blood pressure and lengthened lives. I think its s shame therefore if people are so resistant to embracing the life and energy of the young. Fortunately I know so many older people who are happy to do so and I am lucky to live amongst them down here on the lower slopes where we have a happy mixed community.

This post was last modified: 26-01-2012 11:04 PM by roz.