Dog walking business warned it risks prosecution if it carries out further works in Flag Fen

A dog walking business has been warned it risks a £50,000 fine and criminal prosecution if it carries out further works near an ancient monument.

The Dog Play Co. has built sheds and fences on land near a Bronze Age timber platform in Flag Fen.

Historic England says these are “unauthorised works” as it failed to obtain the necessary legal consent for building near a designated ancient monument.

But, because the works are relatively superficial, the heritage agency has said it won’t take further action in this case and that it’s “best considered as a planning matter”.

Peterborough City Council (PCC) has refused the company planning permission – which its owner Jason Dean applied for retrospectively – to change the use of the land between the junction of The Droveway and Northey Road just outside the city from an agricultural field to a dog exercise park.

In its decision notice, it said: “In future, you should refrain from undertaking any physical works on site without the required Ancient Monuments consent or risk a criminal prosecution and penalties to a maximum of £50,000.”

The council also noted objections to the application from its conservation officer, archaeological officer and highways services.

Currently, the field is “characterised as a dog walking park”, PCC says, with “various dog play equipment on site” and a shipping container for storage, bounded by wooden fencing.

These have been added to the site since spring 2022, without planning consent.

The Dog Play Co. offers dog owners, trainers and walkers the opportunity to hire a secure area of land to allow dogs to walk and play freely during the working day. It operates, lawfully, at Crofts Corner in Bretton.

PCC says that because there would be four part-time staff on site running the business, there is “a clear potential for an increase in traffic” to it and that insufficient information about how this would be managed has been submitted by the applicant.

The application is also not in line with planning policy, the council says, because it would constitute a development in the countryside which is outside its Local Plan.

A planning statement submitted by Mr Dean says: “Everything I have done, and will do in the future (with the exception of planting trees/shrubs), is removable and thus temporary. There will be no permanent structures built onsite.”

His plans proved more popular with local residents.

While the application only received one public objection, it received 22 letters of support with members of the public noting the play park’s “good community value”.