A decision has been made on plans submitted retrospectively for the change of use of a registry office to a dog daycare and grooming facility.

Permission has been granted subject to conditions for LoveDog Grooming Ltd's plans in Johnstone - despite six local objections.

The proposal sought full planning permission for the change of use of its premises and for the retail of accessories such as collars, leads, harnesses and treats.

The location at 16 to 18 Macdowall Street was at one time Johnstone Registrars Office. 

Objecting to the plans, one local resident said that "the barking of the dogs can be quite extensive at times" and raised concerns that if this is allowed to continue, when the better weather comes in, it will disturb their peace whilst sitting in their garden.

They also raised concern that the application for planning permission was not lodged until December 2023, when the business had already been in operation for about six months.

A decision notice given by Renfrewshire Council granted consent to the business on the condition that a “maximum of 12 dogs shall be boarded within the application site at any one time and the hours of operation shall be 8am until 6pm, Monday to Friday, unless otherwise agreed in writing with the planning authority.”

In the application, which was validated in January, it was stated that the lease for premises was signed on August 4 and the business began operating on September 1.

The applicant added that they were aware that the premises had previously been “used for a variety of purposes since being the registry office, including a dog grooming and daycare business” and “as such, was unaware that a change of use permission was required.”

A ground floor plan was submitted with the proposal submission on December 7, but an updated version of this was added in January.

The updated version shows a reception and shop, grooming area, bathing area, office/rest area, daycare, drying areas, toilet and storage.

A post-submission additional document submitted with this update stated that the plans are adapted from the “original Renfrewshire Council asset drawing as footprint is the same, just the use of the rooms is different.”

“(The) only internal change is a partial stud wall between shop/reception and the grooming area so that dogs being groomed are not disturbed by customers entering/leaving the premises,” it added.