Paws and Claws doggy day-care to open in Paddock Wood
A doggy day-care business is on the move.
Paws and Claws, currently based at Cryals Road in Matfield, has won planning permission to expand at a new site off Maidstone Road, in Paddock Wood.[1]
The former equestrian stables will be converted into a day shelter for the dogs and a mess room for staff, and a small additional timber shed will be erected.
The plot, which is well-screened from the road, has an existing hard-standing turning area and is already divided into two paddocks. It falls within Yalding parish and the borough of Maidstone, even though most of Paddock Wood comes under Tunbridge Wells council.
Julia McKenzie, who co-founded the business with her friend Octavia Freeborough, said: “We have been running a licensed dog care business since 2018.
“We are licensed for 16 dogs a day and are currently at full capacity with a waiting list.”
She described Paddock Wood as “an affluent dog-friendly place to live” and said the new site, with its proximity to a mainline commuter rail station and a busy town would undoubtedly lead to an increase in demand.
It was that aspect that worried Cllr Geraldine Brown, chairman of Yalding Parish Council who queried whether the proposed opening times of 8am till 6pm would be enough since commuters were often away from home outside those hours.
She asked: “Will this later lead to a request for extended hours, which would be unacceptable?”
Conversely, she was also worried about what would be the future planning use permitted on the land if the business were to fail.
She asked: “Will the floodgates have been opened to a less appropriate use in this area?”
Officers assured her the planning use would be limited by condition to dog-care only, so any future change of use would need new planning permission.
Miss McKenzie said the move would enable the business to increase staff levels from four to six or possibly eight, since the maximum number of dogs per staff member allowed was 10.
There would be no overnight stays at the site, and traffic trips would be minimised since the business ran a pick-up and delivery service for clients in an adapted van.
Cllr Clive English said that since dog care businesses needed a lot of space to exercise the animals, it was almost inevitable that they would have to be situated in the countryside. His proposal that the planning application be approved was carried by a majority vote.
Details of the application can be viewed here.[2]Application number 22/505670 refers.
References
- ^ Paddock Wood. (www.kentonline.co.uk)
- ^ here. (pa.midkent.gov.uk)