Horstead dog field expansion agreed amid waste allegations

Marilyn Heath, a disability campaigner who once heckled former prime minister Boris Johnson, has seen plans to expand her dog exercise field business approved by Broadland District Council (BDC). 

The scheme would see a second, larger, field open at the Donkey Dell Dog Exercise Fields in Horstead. 

The application was heard at Broadland District Council offices (Image: George Thompson, LDR)

But the plans saw strong objections from a neighbour, who feared the dogs would bother her sheep, while also complaining of human waste being left on her land, allegedly by current dog walkers. 

Addressing BDC’s planning committee, Ange Childerhouse, owner of a “country pursuits business”, accused Ms Heath of setting up the field without permission in the pandemic and said a dog had recently got loose and bothered donkeys.

She added: “Toilets - this has been an ongoing problem since the pen was opened – we've kept a record of evidence, and we have had seven lots of human excrement on our field since July, the last one on September 23.  

“It was definitely human, it had a toilet roll attached to it.” 

She called on the committee to dismiss the application or for added conditions to be added, including the need for a toilet on the site. 

BDC officials said toilets are unnecessary as part of this particular application. 

Ms Heath told the committee the business was helping her to support her disabled 27-year-old daughter and the larger site would accommodate larger dogs, such as greyhounds. 

“From my experience, I knew there was a demand for a safe and secure exercise facility and this business could help provide extra income to support my daughter and I, while giving the local community access to an underutilised area of natural beauty,” she said. 

She told the committee that a council officer had visited the site and asked if she was being "harassed," which he said he would mention to local police officers.

BDC unanimously approved the scheme.