Planning row forces doggy day care move

Business hopes to re-locate to new HQ in September

A FAMILY-RUN doggy day care business is having to up sticks just a year after moving to new premises.

Tracy Gray and Daemon Johnson are being forced to leave their base at Wood Street in Hinckley due to a row over planning regulations.

The couple set up Pets in Home at the property last July after launching the business four years previously.

But they have fallen foul of local planning policy which dictates the building they occupy - a former factory - should only be used for employment purposes.

It means a change of use application has been refused, an appeal dismissed and a date set in the autumn to shift to an alternative location.

Daemon said: “Unfortunately the council seems to be working to a new planning strategy which I feel does not help small businesses because anyone who wants to open something which isn’t ‘the norm’ will struggle.”

When the pair took on the premises, offering dog owners a safe and supportive place for their pets to stay while at work or on errands, they believed their operation would fall under permitted development.

Discussions with officials at Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council resulted in them submitting a retrospective application for a change of use.

Consultation did result in some neighbours objecting, mainly on noise and traffic grounds, but when the application was decided it was refused because the site is classified as ‘Category B’ in the council’s most recent development plan - meaning it must be used for employment.

Daemon appealed arguing the condition of the building, the fact it wasn’t vacant for a long time or had been marketed as an employment site prior to the day care starting and that he had taken on four staff was sufficient to allow change of use.

A Government inspector did not agree and dis- missed the appeal in April.

Daemon said: “The policy is about protecting employment sites but I feel it is a bit of a farce. We employ five people, we are a business and we provide a service to the local community which is some- thing want.”

While the issue has put Pets in Home at odds with the authority, the situation is being dealt with pragmatically on both sides.

Daemon and Tracy have identified a new property, the community a barn on farmland on the outskirts of Hinckley but still within striking distance of the centre, and hope to move in September.

The council is allowing operations to continue in the meantime while the preparations are made.

Daemon said: “It’s a hassle for us and something we’d rather not do but we have just got to get on with it.

“We are keeping our customers updated and they are all behind us.”