Owners of Ewloe based dog grooming company launch appeal after council issues enforcement notice

The owners of a dog grooming company have launched an appeal after they were told they could no longer use their land and stables for their business.

Flintshire Council has issued an enforcement notice against Roger and Rebecca Davies, who run Dapper Dogs based at Castle Hill Stables in Ewloe.

It said they could no longer use the former brewery site for their business, which is mostly used by Mrs Davies to walk, groom and board dogs, as they do not have planning permission.

It comes after the authority had previously alerted them to a noise complaint about dogs barking at the property.

However, the couple have now launched an appeal against the notice, claiming that they have taken steps to reduce the number of dogs on the premises at any one time.

In a statement written on their behalf by agent Peter Jones-Hughes, he said: “Daily dog customers to the property have been significantly reduced by the change to a collection system.

“As a result there is no evidence of a problem arising from current levels of traffic to the site.

“There is no evidence that the change of use has had a permanent detrimental impact on the character and appearance of the property, which was used historically as a commercial brewery.

“The number of dogs accepted on the site and the daily management measures instigated in operating the current use have resulted in a minimising of adverse impacts on residential amenity by virtue of noise, nuisance and general disturbance.”

Mr Jones-Hughes said the couple had received no contact from the council since approximately a year before the notice was issued in June, and claimed they were told by officers that the complaint against commercial use was ‘not significant’.

He also described a move by the authority for them to remove a caravan, which they currently live in while stables are converted into living accommodation, as ‘excessive’.

But a letter dated May 2017, shows that the council asked the company to stop operating from the site or face formal enforcement action.

They said: “Following recent visits by the council’s enforcement/compliance officer, it is understood that a boarding, day care and grooming business for dogs is operational at the above address under the name of Dapper Dogs.

“There are no records of any planning permission to operate a business at the above address and to do so would normally require an application for a change of use.

“It is however unlikely that permission would be granted for such a use due to the amenity of neighbouring residential properties.

“The council therefore request that you cease business operations within 21 days of the date of this letter.”
Interested parties are encouraged to comment on the appeal by Friday, August 31.

Meanwhile, Mr and Mrs Davies and Flintshire Council are expected to submit their final comments by Friday, September 14.
A date for the hearing has not yet been set.

By Liam Randall – Local Democracy Reporter.

📷 Dapper Dogs / Google