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Item 14, Pages 29-38                                                       Buttercups Sanctuary for Goats, Wierton Road, Boughton Monchelsea

PLANNING APPLICATION : 19/505435/FULL

●   With regards to the hours of operation condition, following the agent’s earlier agreement to the proposed conditions listed in the report, further details have come to light regarding how the sanctuary operates.  It is understood that the goats tend to go to their stalls when it gets dark (so longer hours are required in the summer months); some of the animals also require regular medical attention and specialist feeding; and harvesting the hay is dictated to by the weather, so when it is possible to put the bales under cover, this at times requires staff to work overtime.  Condition 2 does not cater for allowing staff and volunteers to be on the site to cover these duties.

It is therefore recommended to amend condition 2 to read:

Excluding staff and volunteers that work on the application site, no visitors shall be permitted to be on the premises outside of the hours of 11:00 and 16:00 each day between March and October, and outside of the hours of 11:00 and 15:00 on Saturdays and Sundays between November and February, except for youth workshops between the hours of 18:00-19:30 for no more than 10 times a calendar year;

Reason: In the interests of residential amenity.

●   It is recommended to amend informative 1 to read:

The applicant is advised to install additional signage at the site entrance to explain goats may be stressed by noise and to remind visitors to be considerate and quiet throughout their visit.  Advert consent may be required for such signage as set out under The Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) (England) Regulations 2007.

●   It is recommended to add the following additional informative:

To avoid vehicles in the car park compacting the earth within the root protection areas of mature trees, it is preferable that the surfacing here is of ‘no-dig’ construction, in order to prevent the premature demise of surrounding trees.

The recommendation remains unchanged