A family-run dog kennel has been allowed to double its capacity despite an avalanche of complaints from furious neighbours over ‘incessant’ and ‘unbearable’ barking.
Three Oaks Dog Boarding Kennels & Cattery, in Bishops Waltham, Hampshire, will provide space for 235 dogs, up from 121, after Winchester council accepted a planning application for extra kennel blocks and isolation units.
The council said animal noise is no louder than traffic and the increase in pets will ‘barely be perceptible’.
But frustrated residents, who claim they can hear loud howling from as far as 750 metres down the road, have hit back at the council, who they believe only accepted the expansion because it houses stray dogs.
Eight neighbours made public objections when the kennel, which was established in 1998 and offers boarding and daycare for dogs, lodged its application earlier this year.
Although it is currently licensed to hold 121 dogs, it caters for around 70 animals, who neighbours say already create an ‘unbelievable’ constant racket, even when their windows are closed.
Neighbour Mark Yeomans, 57, a carpenter and business owner, said he is unable to sleep because of the loud barking.
‘You get one dog that howls and then they all go on. It gets to the point where it’s just too much.
Three Oaks Dog Boarding Kennels & Cattery, in Hampshire, will provide space for 235 dogs, up from 121, after Winchester council accepted their planning application
The kennel has been allowed to double its capacity despite an avalanche of complaints from furious neighbours over ‘incessant’ and ‘unbearable’ barking
Neighbour Mark Yeomans (pictured), 57, said he can’t sleep with the windows open because of the loud barking
‘You can’t sleep with the windows open, you can’t do that because of the noise. It’s got worse over the years and now with this application… it’s practically doubling the accommodation – the noise is going to be twice as bad.
‘I can’t see how it got through planning.’
His wife Amanda Yeomans, 57, lodged a public objection against the expansion.
‘We already have far too much noise from the kennels and it affects our lives on a daily basis both during the day and at night,’ she said.
‘If there is not noise from the dogs barking then it’s from constant building works & the property itself.
‘We also suffer from constant light pollution from the kennels there is never a time when it is quiet.’
Councillor Tracy Conduct said an expansion would be ‘incomprehensible’.
She said: ‘I object most strongly to this application as a fairly close neighbour the noise of these kennels as it stands is unbearable.
Although it is currently licensed to hold 121 dogs, the kennel caters for around 70 animals
Neighbours say the dogs already create an ‘unbelievable’ constant racket, even when their windows are closed
Winchester council said animal noise is no louder than traffic and the increase in pets will ‘barely be perceptible’
‘The thought of three more kennel blocks would be incomprehensible… there are often dogs barking all night long which I can only assume would get worse.
‘Often in the summer we have to keep our windows closed throughout the night.’
In a council meeting, she said the noise is ‘unbelievable’ and there was nothing that ‘convinces me that it would not have a detrimental impact on us’.
Another neighbour, Sharon Johnson, 64, said the ‘incessant’ noise direclty impacts the neighbourhood.
She said what was once a small family business has turned ‘huge’.
In her public objection, she wrote: ‘We object to this application because of the increased noise that we will have to suffer.
‘The levels are already very high and incessant.
‘The sound from the kennels carries a long way and has a direct impact on all the neighbours.’
Councillor Tracy Conduct said an expansion would be ‘incomprehensible’ and the current noise is ‘unbearable’
Emma Rosling, who lives 750m from the kennel, said she can hear barking even with her windows closed.
Local resident Stuart Conduct said: ‘I’m very disappointed to see yet another planning application for kennels at this site.
‘The noise levels that already come from this site are already unbearable with dogs barking all night long causing me to keep windows closed during the night in the summer.’
Despite the wave of complaints, Winchester council approved the application.
A planning officer said: ‘The scale and appearance of the kennel blocks and isolation blocks are in-keeping to the character and use of the existing site and will not have a significant adverse impact upon the character of the area
They added a noise impact assessment showed that the ‘acoustic character of the local area’ would not change.
