Outdoor classroom planned for nursery school at former Dudley hospital
Children at a Black Country nursery school will be able to enjoy outdoor lessons if plans for an extension are approved.
Plans have been submitted to Dudley Council for a new wooden summerhouse at Rainbow Nursery, on the site of the former Wordsley Hospital.
The operator wants to build a freestanding wooden summerhouse to be used as an outdoor classroom for children aged from three months to five years.
A statement by the applicant said the extension would not require any alterations to the original building, which dates back to 1903.
The site in Stream Road is in a conservation area.
The applicant said the 25ft by 10ft single storey extension would be made from naturally coloured spruce wood, and would have minimal impact on the surroundings.
The application said it would allow the nursery to increase the number of places it could offer, meeting increased demand for childcare places.
"Current government strategy is to increase funding for children under four to attend nursery, helping parents to return to work," it said.
"This is driving a significant increase in childcare requirements throughout the industry.
"The proposed development is in response to the need to extend the places in the nursery to meet this requirement."
The site of the proposed extension is at present occupied by a wooden maintenance shed.
The applicant said that trees surrounding the grounds would be unaffected.
The plans will now be considered by Dudley Council's planning department.
Wordsley hospital was built as a redevelopment of a former workhouse from 1902 to 1904.
It was extended in 1915 during the First World War to provide an annexe to the 1st Southern Military Hospital, and a further seven wards were added during the Second World War, followed by a new maternity unit in 1988.
However, the hospital closed as part of a shake-up of hospital services in 2005, by which time most services had been moved to an extended Russells Hall Hospital in Dudley.
