Bid to create Harram Bottom, Whepstead, near Bury St Edmunds, dog walking and exercising field on farmland approved by West Suffolk Council

A bid to create a dog walking and exercising field on farmland near a town has been approved.

West Suffolk Council approved the plans from R H Maddever Farms to convert the space at Harram Bottom, Whepstead, near Bury St Edmunds, on Tuesday.

The application did not propose a change to the surface of the land, which would remain a grassed meadow.

It was formerly used to store stacked straw bales.

The space would be secured with ‘post and mesh style fencing’.

The site will also have a small parking area for visitors and a ‘moveable shelter’ for customers to take refuge in during periods of poor weather.

The existing access track to the farm would remain.

A delegated report said the plans were considered to represent ‘farm diversification.

The site is just inside the locally designated Special Landscape Area, which is a large area of countryside straddling the south and southeast of Bury.

Officers recognised the mitigation measures proposed by the applicants – significant new native species boundary tree and hedgerow planting – to mitigate the impact of the new ‘urban features’ of the car park and shelter.

They added the plans would not cause ‘significant harm’ to the character and appearance of the area.

Planners approved the application subject to conditions including no lighting at the site, definitive hours of use (between 7am and 9pm), a maximum number of dogs present (10) and the restriction of use to dog walking and exercising only, saying explicitly it was not to be used for training.

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Developers have three years to begin works.