A Creche next door!

[Homer67]

The lady next door to me has always run a child minding business since before I moved in, it wasn't a problem as I'm at work all day and the noise was done by 18:00 when most parents had picked up their kids, she never had any more than about 3 plus her own of which 2 are under 5 years old and one under 16 years old.

 

However now she seems to have built what can only be described as a playground in her back garden and an extension on the back of her house which is a play room (the windows have paintings on them).

 

It's been pretty quiet through the Summer, but last week and this week the noise has started at 07:00 and is still going on now as it is now a full blown creche with possibly 6 - 10 kids but I can't be sure exactly how many and I don't really want to start looking over the fence counting them for obvious reasons.

 

Currently there are kiddie tunes blaring out in the garden and screaming kids running amok.

 

There is a pirate ship climbing frame in the garden and it has bell at the top which is well over the height of the fence (5' fence). If you give kids a bell what do you think is going to happen?!

 

It has become utter chaos that doesn't quieten down until about 19:00. It is impossible for me to sit in the garden during daylight at all.

 

So my question is: Napalm or Mustard Gas, which is most effective in small open air combat zones?

 

Seriously, I know a little bit about nursery rules and regs as my missus is a qualified Nursery Nurse and there is something called 'ratio' where you must have a certain number of adults per child. In this case she is way out of ratio, as to the best of my knowledge she is looking after these kids alone.

 

So do I do the dirty and report her to Ofsted as I genuinely believe the children are at risk if she can't watch them all?

 

This seems a shame as she is trying to make a living and apart from the odd ball or toy coming over which I always return, we had no issues with the creche up to the expansion.

 

My neighbour is a little stand offish though, so I wouldn't say I am able to say 'the noise is a little loud' without it causing some friction.

 

Any thoughts on how to deal with this?

[unclebulgaria67]

Local council are best bet. Running a business like this from home surely needs consent for obvious reasons.

 

In my area, i am sure someone was planning to do this in a quiet residential road and had to apply to the council. The council then wrote to all neighbours concerned, who mostly objected to it. Not sure it went ahead. It is not just noise, but parents in their cars picking up kids mornings and afternoons.

 

If this happened next door to me, i would be playing some really loud music with plenty of swearing in the lyrics, if the council did nothing to stop this business use.

[Homer67]

Local council are best bet. Running a business like this from home surely needs consent for obvious reasons.

 

In my area, i am sure someone was planning to do this in a quiet residential road and had to apply to the council. The council then wrote to all neighbours concerned, who mostly objected to it. Not sure it went ahead. It is not just noise, but parents in their cars picking up kids mornings and afternoons.

 

If this happened next door to me, i would be playing some really loud music with plenty of swearing in the lyrics, if the council did nothing to stop this business use.

 

You are right about the dropping off and picking up. I hadn't found it much of a problem but lately it has got worse.

[king12345]

Burping very loudly also scares the kids.

Not that you would ever do that... just saying

[stu007]

I agree speak with the Local Council on the Child Minding aspect but also at the same time inform the councils noise abatement team of the noise levels.

 

This link may be of use: https://www.gov.uk/complain-about-school/types.

 

Keep a written record of everything that is happening, this PDF may be of use:

 

Incident Log-with form fields -----.pdf

[Homer67]

Thanks, I'll give it some thought.

[Noah1]

Your neighbourg didn't appear to sort out her Child minding business with the Council and therefore can get herself in a big trouble. There are many rules such as Safeguarding, Child protection, Health and Safety, CRB check, etc. that she would need to officialy comply with if she intends to run Creche. It appears that it will be your decision as to whether it's possible to have just amicable word with her or you will need to follow an official route which will almost certainly get her in a trouble.

[Homer67]

Thanks for the reply, currently the noise isn't an issue as the children are not using the garden, I'll re-assess the situation in the Summer.

[ssparks2003]

Personally i would not wait, deal with the issue now because one summer rolls around and you decide to do something you will lose the entire summer waiting for the council to do something, bet to start the ball rolling now.

[Consumer dude]

You could take a video of activities going on and wait for any complaint of snooping, this may open up an opportunity for some kind of dialogue.

[Ganymede]

You could take a video of activities going on and wait for any complaint of snooping, this may open up an opportunity for some kind of dialogue.

 

Videoing children in a crèche probably isn't the best idea...

[Consumer dude]

Videoing children in a crèche probably isn't the best idea...

 

I agree but the idea of a video could make for a more immediate response rather then waiting for the council or some authority to get involved.

[snowdragon]

sorry for jumping in here but how can you find out if a person is allowed to have loads children round their house as I have same problem, it is upsetting my dogs as the children are running up and down stairs, banging, shouting etc, I am sure she is doing childminding :/

[Consumer dude]

sorry for jumping in here but how can you find out if a person is allowed to have loads children round their house as I have same problem, it is upsetting my dogs as the children are running up and down stairs, banging, shouting etc, I am sure she is doing childminding :/

 

Try and talk directly to anyway regarding any issues but this is not always possible so third party intervention sometimes is necessary, so perhaps in your situation phone your local council for advice and express your concerns.

[snowdragon]

thanks CD, I do not mind her looking after the children but she lets them run riot, I did ask her if she was childminding but she denied it, they just came bk from New York yesterday and this morning a car dropped of yet another child

[snowdragon]

I have just checked the list of childminders near me and can not see her name on the list

 

Sandy xx

[Consumer dude]

I have just checked the list of childminders near me and can not see her name on the list

 

Sandy xx

 

It's a difficult one and sounds for you anyway a noise issue rather then anything else, You could make an anonymous enquiry to the council regarding the address.

[snowdragon]

I looked on the local council form and it asks for contact details, she will then know who it is, it is not fair to my dogs, I try and keep them from barking as well

 

Thanks CD X

[snowdragon]

Forgot to mention our houses are HA ones

[Sparks_]

Forgot to mention our houses are HA ones

 

If she is renting from a HA then its usually part of the rules that you can not run a business from your home! I would be contacting the HA.

[snowdragon]

thanks Sparks, I thought that was the case, all have heard most of morning is thump,bang and my dogs whimpering wondering whats going on, and then barking as think someone is at the door

 

Sandy xx

[king12345]

If you contact the council by telephone you can ask them if your details can remain confidential so they don't disclose them to your neighbour.

Most likely she will say that she looks after friends' children and doesn't get paid, but worth a punt

[snowdragon]

So Monday and thought schools were back, another child just been dropped of and has taken me 15 mins to calm my dogs down :/

[unclebulgaria67]

So Monday and thought schools were back, another child just been dropped of and has taken me 15 mins to calm my dogs down :/

 

As this is bothering you, i would suggest that you monitor the situation for a week or so, making a note of how many children are being dropped off each day.

 

It might be the case of mothers helping each other out looking after each others children on certain days, so others can go out to work. But if they are taking children in every day,then it suggests a creche is being run and you could report to the local council. If they are not qualified to run such a business or their house is not safe for this activity, i think you would feel guilty if something happened and you had not reported. At least if you reported, it would be up to the council to make relevant checks.

[snowdragon]

it bothers my dogs Uncle, I do everything within my power to keep them as quiet as possible, she is not on the list of registered child-minders

 

There has also been children dropped off at weekends, I have no idea if it is allowed as there are HA houses, someone was quick enough to report my dogs shortly after I moved here