It’s been a busy old week here at Canopies by Acer with everything from launching our first brand new product brochure to dealing with planning permission for canopy clients.

We mention the latter because planning regulations are getting to be big a source of frustration for us. Just this week, a keen customer based the south of England who runs a nursery, that is, in the words of Ofsted, ‘Outstanding’  has recently been granted permission to increase the number of children that they can care for.

And so, first on their to do list; create more space with a Canopies by Acer canopy providing an ideal option, an opinion that was echoed by the nursery,  the Ofsted inspectors and our team here in Liverpool of course.

Yet despite the well publicised “Red Tape Challenge,” proposal reforms, with more than 300 local planning authorities in England still wielding various powers you may not be surprised to learn that permission to erect the canopy has been initially rejected by planning officials on the basis that it is not in keeping with the building or indeed a necessary requirement.

As experienced engineers and qualified professionals, we at Canopies by Acer agree that planning needs to be carefully considered as it is affects the places we live in and care about. But surely in this instance there is more than the overall look and feel of a building at stake here.

As the saying goes, ‘Childhood is a short season’ and each child is at nursery for just a few years. All good childcare and early years providers understand that they are a child’s first carer, educator and that those first valuable years provide experiences that are rich in stimulus and variety and positively affect a child’s outcome in later life.

It seems simple, why can’t a high quality provider increase their provision relatively easily and start offering the much needed service to more children as soon as possible?

In the world of toddlers, the easiest thing to would be to stamp our feet and throw a tantrum. Thankfully the younger ones amongst us see the world in a simple way and lack an understanding of bureaucracy otherwise we would have a riot on our hands.