The cost of nursery and childcare is high but the economics are not as simple as you make out Brian. My son went to a popular FH nursery a few years ago and we were paying about £55 a day which was above average at the time. I did some simple maths about the business' income and expenditure and I struggled to see where the profit was made after staff costs (even at minimum wage - and believe me, I'd want someone to be motivated by a higher salary if they were looking after kids), catering, rents, rates, bills, maintenance, etc.

I'd like to think that the nature of the business and its impact is considered in the planning application. I suspect something like an MOT shop or builders merchants wouldn't have been allowed but that the committee assessed the impact of the nursery to be minor. It seems the worst of it is noise and inconvenience around cars and parking. The planning committee are insisting on a 'travel plan' which should help improve this if it is a significant problem. They also put quite restrictive conditions on the use of the garden to head off any noise issues.

Personally I'd rather live next door to the Liphook Crescent nursery with the restrictions and controls on its use than to a communal glass recycling bin and its 24hr potential to annoy with loud smashing.