Am I the only person to think that some of the posts on this thread have been somewhat hysterical and even vindictive?

If you buy a property that is subject to a restrictive covenant and you chose to ignore that covenant then that is your look out. If the owners of the nursery were badly advised that is unfortunate but you can't expect the neighbours to give up their rights just to keep the customers of the nursery happy.

All the guff about the poor children is an irrelevant emotional smokescreen. Leave the kids out of an argument that is and has always been between "grown ups".