Sue Gray, who has run Carousel Daycare at her house in Bridgewater since February last year, insists that she and two employees caring for six children each day are childminders operating a childminding network and that she is the victim of a long-standing dispute with the neighbour.
She said, 'I know of other childminders who are doing the same as me and have not been told to seek planning permission. I think what is happening to me has enormous implications for childminders.'
Sedgemoor District Council Planning Department said the number of children being cared for, the quiet cul-de-sac location, increased traffic and alleged parking difficulties at the beginning and end of the day, coupled with the use of two rooms in the house meant Mrs Gray must apply for planning permission.
Officials referred to planning guidance document PPG4, which states that the use of a room as an office or for childminding 'would be unlikely to mean that the character of the house's use as a dwelling had ceased and would not normally require planning permission'.
Mrs Gray, who also runs a day nursery in the town and lectures in childcare at Bridgewater College, said the two rooms are at the back of the house and that her closest neighbour has made no complaint. However, planning officers told her she must seek permission for a nursery and confirmed in a letter dated 22 May that if an application was accepted she was likely to be liable for business rates.
Mrs Gray and her colleagues, who are part of the Bridgewater Sure Start Childminding Network, have received money from the New Opportunities Fund. She said that forcing her to pay business rates would result in the closure of Carousel Daycare. The Ofsted helpline had told her she did not need to seek planning permission and that it was up to local planning departments - a ruling she found baffling 'because I thought that with Ofsted everyone would be treated the same'.
Somerset County Council wrote to her on 15 May saying its officials had contacted Ofsted and been advised that 'there is no legal limit as to the number of childminders working in one home'. It also said that the National Childminding Association's insurance covered up to nine children in a single home.
But in a further letter dated 21 May the council said it was advising childminders registering for the first time to contact their local planning office, and that it 'may be counter-productive for those currently registered to contact the local planning office'.
Council officials will be visiting other planning departments to reach a resolution of the issue and 'to ensure that this does not happen again'.