PLANNING consent has been refused for a West Somerset animal visitor attraction which has become tainted by controversies.

The Golden Retriever Experience (GRE) has been operating its dog petting business without planning permission since it opened more than five years ago in Keepers Cottage, Carhampton.

In May of last year it saw its licence revoked by Somerset Council following an RSPCA investigation into standards of care for the dogs which resulted in all the animals being seized.

Then, owner and founder Nicolas Grant St James was last month sentenced to 18 weeks in prison, which was suspended for a year, and banned for 10 years from keeping dogs.

He had pleaded guilty to mistreating his pack of 34 golden retrievers in a prosecution brought by the RSPCA.

Now, a retrospective request for planning permission for the Carhampton premises has been turned down by Somerset Council.

Planning officer Anthony Pick said: “While there is some support in principle for rural tourism development, the application raises significant concerns.”

Mr Pick said concerns included the impact on the neighbouring grade two listed 18th century property and a lack of demonstrable benefit to the rural economy.

He said the 10-year ban on Mr Grant St James keeping dogs ‘fundamentally undermines the viability of the proposed use and negates any claimed economic or tourism benefits’.

Dunster Estates as landowner had also confirmed it objected to the GRE using its property ‘following recent events’.

Mr Pick said the retrospective application came about because of enforcement investigations by the council which sought to regularise the development and facilitate an expansion of the business.

He said the GRE business plan projected significant revenue, but this was no longer credible given the licence revocation and court conviction which compromised its viability.

The planning application comprised retention of wooden structures, a visitor shelter, and containers used for storage, change of use of agricultural land to support GRE operations, and creating a new access for vehicles and on-site car parking.

Carhampton parish councillors unanimously objected to the GRE application because of the harm it would cause to the heritage setting.

They pointed to the introduction of an open-sided two-storey dog shelter, a wooden public meeting area, both with metal sheet roofing, three metal storage shipping containers, and customer and staff parking for 26 vehicles in the garden and grounds.

Councillors said this would ‘erode the tranquil, picturesque setting, undermining its rural character and the building’s group value with adjacent historic features’.

There was also concern the development would create an increase in vehicles entering and exiting off the A39 in a 60 mph speed limit zone, which already was the second busiest A road in Somerset.

The Carhampton councillors noted county highways officers had stated there was no record of collisions to indicate a safety problem existed on the road.

But they said this was because when GRE was trading, a person in a hi-viz vest was employed to sit at the entrance and flag down traffic to allow vehicles to enter and leave the site.