You make some fair points Saddened but Piplings is not a 'large' nursery. Any it has already had it's impact assessed by the LPA who have mandated an upper limit on attendees. I don't see that negotiations on 'size' are viable as the crux of the matter is not planning permission but the covenant. It would be too big a risk for the neighbours to agree to accept the business and the striking of the covenant based on an agreement of lower numbers when under planning permission the owner could then up the numbers again. Another option would be to agree a new covenant but when an assessment has already been made that 24 children would not pose a problem I don't see how a sensible new covenant could be agreed.

I'd also challenge your claim that hundreds of people oppose the nursery!