I am pre empting a particuarly nasty and vindicative neighbour.
I have 4 cats of my own and foster up to three others at a time. All of my own have outside access and although I may have three fosters in as housecats, they may not all go out, due to pregnancy, illness etc. In fact it is rare that I do have three in at once.
Later this month I am having two pens errected which will hold either single cats or perhaps two in a pen if they come in as pairs. The pens will be at the side of the house and cannot be seen from the road or by the neighbours. I use compostable cat litter, which is either dealt with in my compost or goes into my green bin for collection and composting by the local council. The only thing I cannot compost is the solid waste which is wrapped in a bag and disposed of in normal household rubbish. Meat tins are rinsed out and recycled so there is no extra rubbish there and because they have been rinsed out, there is no smell. Visitors to my house for collection/dropping off of cats are able to park on my drive.
A lot of research on my part reveals that change of use is only normally required if 12 or more cats are kept and then it can be deemed as a rescue. The errection of pens varies from authority to authority and as they will not be seen from the road or by the neighbours, I am hoping that this will not present an issue.
There is the question of the Environmental Protection Act if the activities are deemed to be a nusiance, either smell, noise, excess traffic etc. But I take great pains to ensure that it is not a nuisance.
Does any one else have experience of falling foul of planning. I have no issues yet, but I feel that due to the wicked witch of the east I may have soon!
