Former Walsall restaurant to become 130-place nursery
A former Chinese Restaurant in Aldridge will become a children’s nursery after a refusal was overturned by a government inspector.
Little Ripley Day Nurseries Ltd now has permission to convert Simon’s Restaurant on Chester Road into a facility for up to 130 children.
The application had previously been issued a refusal at a Walsall Council planning committee meeting on October 30, 2025.
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Members of the committee voted unanimously against the proposal on the grounds of highway safety.
Councillor Mike Bird, planning chair and leader of the authority, said at the meeting: “I wouldn’t want any death of a child on my head.”
The issue of highway safety was one of the reasons the planning officers had recommended a refusal.
But the applicant appealed the decision to the planning inspectorate and had the ruling overturned.
Inspector D Wilson, granting permission, said: “There would be no unacceptable harm to highway and pedestrian safety.”
Walsall Council has now been ordered to pay Little Ripley Day Nurseries Ltd costs associated with the appeal.
D Wilson said: “Unreasonable behaviour resulting in unnecessary or wasted expense has been demonstrated and a partial award of costs is justified.”
