Dog-walking expansion rejected over road safety concerns

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Council planners have rejected a Bedwas family’s expansion plan for their dog-walking venture over road safety concerns.

The Watts family had applied to extend the venture onto more farmland at Pen y Waun Farm, on Mountain Road, as part of a wider diversification plan.

A supporting statement said the Top of The Meadow dog-walking business had seen significant local demand since the original planning permission was granted in 2024.

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But planners at Caerphilly County Borough Council said Mountain Road was “unsuitable to serve further development” because of its “narrow widths, steep gradients and poor forward visibility”.

They judged a further “intensification” in the use of Mountain Road would not be a “safe” or “effective” use of the route, if the expansion plans went ahead.

The officers added the new application failed to provide enough visibility for drivers emerging from the site, risking “increased traffic hazards”.

Planning permission was also refused because officers said further development at the site “would serve to unacceptably urbanise the rural setting”.

They noted the field was “formerly served by a simple agricultural field entrance that was largely assimilated into the roadside hedgerow”.

But the plans include the creation of a more formal access to the land and a parking area, and the officers said proposals for “compensatory” hedgerows would not overcome the “adverse impact” of the changes.

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