Jason Dean has lost an appeal to run a dog exercise field off Northey Road, Peterborough, and says the decision could result in the loss of four jobs, including his own. Mr Dean was refused retrospective permission by Peterborough City to continue to run the exercise yard and has now lost an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate.
Planning inspector William Cooper said that while “I appreciate the appellant’s entrepreneurial drive, and the good quality service that his supportive customers describe” these did not outweigh the harm identified in the case.
He said he had seen “no substantive analysis and quantification of the scale of market demand for bookable dog exercise field sites in Peterborough”.
Mr Cooper added that Mr Dean operates over different sites “and, if something weren’t acceptable at this location, could quite easily be moved somewhere else.
“As such, I have no certainty that there is significant unmet need for this type of provision in the area. Or that potential supply of sites for this use within the Peterborough urban boundary has been substantively explored and found to be exhausted”.
He added; “While the operation of the dog exercise field at the appeal site contributes to this business’s operation, there is not demonstrably a need for it be located specifically at the appeal site.
“Therefore, it is far from certain that this dog exercise field in this particular location is necessary.
“The development is contrary to the development plan and there are no other considerations which outweigh this finding.”
Mr Dean, who runs The Dog Play Co, told the appeal hearing: “As a small business owner trying to survive financially, having this application declined is a massive blow to us.
“Without a venue to operate our services in we will be forced to close and will result in the loss of 4 jobs (myself and 3 staff).
“It will also mean college students won’t be able to gain valuable work experience with us and dogs won’t have a safe place to play.
“The government promotes diversity in farming and in the extended area around Peterborough I can think of at least 5 other dog parks created by Farms Estates. It seems really unfair that I should be declined planning permission and lose my livelihood simply because I am not a farm.”
Mr Dean said: “I often work 70 hours a week to make sure the business runs smoothly and the business breaks even each month with any profit re-invested into toys and facilities.
“During winter customer numbers are low and money is tight. The £650 cost for the planning application alone was crippling and to find out it could be for nothing is heartbreaking.
“I just cannot see the difference between horses being on site or dogs being on site.”.
On a site visit, the inspector said that “the dog exercise field is atypical of, and discordant with the prevailing rural, open character of the local countryside, in its location outside the Peterborough urban boundary”.
He said the development harms the character of the local countryside and it undermines the local spatial strategy, and the objective of protecting the landscape character of the countryside”.
Mr Cooper added: “From what I saw during my site visit on a weekday afternoon, albeit a snapshot in time, Northey Road is apparently a fairly busy road, with a regular flow of traffic.
He said: “In the absence of a scaled and dimensioned drawing demonstrably detailing the following, I have no certainty that safe surfacing, highway drainage, gate configuration and visibility splays for the site access would be achieved for this development.
“Therefore, I conclude that the development would not demonstrably achieve safe highway access to the development.”
Mr Dean, in his appeal letter, added: “Dogs and the noise created by dogs isn’t wanted near the community so when a business recognises this and creates a safe space for outside of city limits its declined. I find this peculiar.”
