Whitland dog park granted change of use application

Mr and Mrs Bovington submitted a retrospective application for the dog park at Plas y Dderwen in Llanboidy, Whitland.

Part of the field was fenced off with work to turn it into a dog park beginning on June 10, 2023, and being completed on July 2 the same year. Prior to this, the field was used for agricultural glazing.

The couple applied for the retrospective application to change the use of part of the agricultural field to a secure fenced dog park as they explored further avenues to make their 30-acre holding sustainable.

The dog park – known as Ruby’s Field – will be open on weekdays, weekends and bank holidays but it will be weather dependent. It will be available for use to the public on a controlled hourly basis, which is done by pre-booking via telephone or text message, as well as online.

The park has a number of pieces of agility equipment installed and there are also dog toys available. The removal of dog waste is the responsibility of the owners of the dogs, but the facility will provide bags if users have forgotten theirs.

There will be parking for two cars which will fit in with the site only being used exclusively by one owner and up to four dogs at one time, making it suitable for owners whose dogs are reactive to other people or animals, as well as dogs that are nervous or have a poor recall.

There are benches for the owners to relax on and a winter shelter will also be built which will be accessible for those with disabilities.

On January 24, Carmarthenshire County Council approved the application with the conditions that the change of use was implemented on the specified date and that it is carried out in line with the approved plans.

There are also conditions that the dog park is operated on a pre-booked appointment system and is only open between 7am and 9pm, Monday to Sunday and there are no more than four bookings each day.

There are also conditions in relation to the vehicle access.