What’s new: Plans for a 0.32 hectare dog walking field off Wootton Road in Ellastone have been recommended for approval by planning officers.
Why it matters: Ellastone Parish Council and residents have raised concerns about barking dogs, waste, traffic and the impact of a two metre fence within the village conservation area.
What’s next: East Staffordshire Borough Council’s planning committee is set to consider the application on 27 October.
This article is based on reporting from the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), a BBC funded initiative set up to strengthen reporting on local democratic issues. The Staffordshire Signal has taken part in the scheme since September 2026, which means we're able to draw on a selection of LDRS stories alongside our own.
Plans for a dog walking field in an East Staffordshire village have been recommended for approval despite objections from the parish council and local residents. The proposal would see an agricultural field off Wootton Road in Ellastone enclosed by a two metre high fence.
The site, next to Ellastone Village Hall, would include a parking area for five cars and a turning area. The proposed 0.32 hectare site is within the village’s conservation area, near the bowling green and tennis courts to the east. Listed buildings are also located around the site.
East Staffordshire Borough Council’s planning committee at are set to consider the application next week on 27 October. No statutory, other than the parish council, have objected to the plans.
Ellastone Parish Council objected to the plans, while residents raised concerns about barking dogs, waste and the impact on nearby homes.
Ellastone Parish Council said: “We consider that the planned fence at two metres in height would be detrimental to the neighbouring properties and to the character and visual amenity of our beautiful village, in a conservation area. This proposed business would be of little or no benefit to the residents of Ellastone.
“Though many of us are dog owners we are lucky in that most of us have gardens and also the many public footpaths running through the village and across the countryside, where we already exercise our dogs. This means that any customers for this site would be travelling here by car, which we suppose to be the reason why five parking p;aces and a turning area are proposed.”
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Under the proposals, no more than six dogs will be allowed on the field at any one time. Users would book online, with each session lasting 50 minutes and a further 10 minutes to leave before the next people arrive.
When booking, visitors will be given a unique code, which will allow a maximum of two cars through the entry gate at any given time slot. The field will be available to book during daytime hours. In the summer months it is planned to operate between 7.30am to 8pm and in winter between 8am and 4pm.
Planning officers at East Staffordshire Borough Council have recommended the plans be approved. They conclude: “With the regard to their submissions both the Parish Council and a number of interested parties make reference to the fact that the proposed dog walking use would be more appropriately sited away from villages and in open countryside locations.
“Concerns are also raised that the development may be the first step to further schemes in the future. The Local Planning Authority is obliged to determine each application on its own merits; with there being no policy justification to seek to apply any sequential test in such cases as dog walking fields.
“In the light of the above assessment, and having taken account of the relevant planning policy context, material planning considerations and all comments received in response to the application, the proposals are supported.”
Written by Jonathan Sutton, Local Democracy Reporter.
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