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08
Sept
New twist in Harrogate dog day care planning saga
Enforcement action is being taken against a dog day care facility in central Harrogate.
After moving into Strayside House on West Park in April 2024, Harrogate Dog Day Care owner Sarah Smith lodged retrospective plans to convert the former office and provide overnight accommodation and an outdoor exercise area.
But residents of the neighbouring Prince of Wales Mansions raised concerns over noise levels and Ms Smith withdrew the plans the following month.
She later submitted a revived proposal – excluding the fenced exercise area in the Strayside House car park – in March this year.
North Yorkshire Council rejected the plans in June, when a planning officer’s report said the facility would have a “harmful effect on the living conditions of the occupiers of neighbouring properties”.
The company continued operating so the Stray Ferret asked the council if it was taking any action.
Martin Grainger, the local authority’s head of development management, responded:
We take planning breaches very seriously and fully investigate any reports we receive.
We are aware that Harrogate Dog Day Care continues to trade following refusal of the planning application, and planning enforcement action is being taken.
We asked the council to clarify what enforcement action was being taken. A spokesperson replied: “The current position is outlined in the statement, there’s nothing more we can add to this at present."
Relocation
The Stray Ferret asked Ms Smith if she planned to continue operating at Strayside House or lodge an appeal against the planning refusal.
She told us the company had “secured a new location with an outside paddock”. When the Stray Ferret asked where the new premises will be, she added:
When we have more of an idea of our migration/move date, we will be letting all our loyal and valued customers know as we will be introducing a new pick-up and drop off service to suit our clients.
The council’s enforcement action was also in the news last week, when the Stray Ferret reported Skipton Road Car Wash – which has repeatedly continued to operate without planning consent – could face legal action if it ignored the council’s latest orders.
The authority refused plans to convert the former Jewson builder's merchant site into a car wash in April, which prompted applicants Adnan Rusool and Mohammed Khader to lodge an appeal. When this was dismissed, the council ordered the car wash to cease trading.
The council told the Stray Ferret it would have “no option but to go ahead with formal enforcement action” if the car wash continued to operate.
The Stray Ferret visited the site several times in the days following, but it was business as usual despite the council’s orders.
We put this to the council at the time - including photos of people washing cars at the site - and asked if further action would be taken, but the authority told us at the time its position had not changed.
A month later, the Stray Ferret pressed the council on this again. The authority's director for community development, Nic Harne, said:
We take planning breaches very seriously and fully investigate any reports we receive.
We are aware that the Skipton Road Car Wash continues to trade, and as a result, enforcement action is being taken via the serving of an enforcement notice.
Should this notice not be complied with, further action will be taken which would include court proceedings
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