PLANS to turn a former Burnley pub into a nursery have been approved

A proposal to convert the former Dickie Pinks in Tunnel Street was submitted to Burnley Council earlier this year.

And now members of the borough's development control committee have given the green light for the scheme.The popular local used to be the Whittlefield Conservative Club and first opened its doors in 1920.

It was renamed Dickie Pinks when it reopened as a public house, taking its name from a newspaper seller, Richard, who used to stand outside selling the daily pink sports results.

In 2014, local businessman, Bilal Zaman, bought Dickie Pinks in the hopes of converting it into new apartments but the plan never came to fruition.

It is proposed the nursery will be open between 7.30am and 6pm Monday to Friday offering provision of childcare for children between the age of birth and 4 years old.

The nursery would operate with a maximum capacity of 42 children at any one time.

At full capacity there will be 8 full time equivalent members of staff employed at the site.

Developer Brian Cooper said: "This property was previously a public house and is currently unoccupied. We would relish the opportunity to re-open this site as a private day nursery providing excellent service and care for the local community.

"There will be no alterations to the exterior and only a stud partition wall alteration to the downstairs lounge area in order to divide the room into two.

"We also propose to fit a basic kitchen in the existing downstairs bar area. The outside existing beer garden which runs the full length down the side of the building and is currently securely surrounded by fencing will be the external play space.

"Parking for staff is available at the side of the building on existing cobbles.

"Due to the nursery being private, we do not provide set provision times, we provide flexible hours to suite family needs and therefore the drop off and pick up times will be staggered which means there will be no congestion of traffic."

Case officer Erika Eden-Porter said: “The proposed change of use to a children’s nursery would bring this vacant building back into a sustainable and beneficial long term use as a community facility, which is welcomed.

"The proposed change of use to a nursery is considered to be an appropriate use for the area and does not raise any significant concerns in terms of visual and residential amenity and is considered to be acceptable in relation to highway safety and parking. "Subject to conditions the development is considered to accord with the relevant plan policies.”