Planners reject pet cemetery

Controversial plans to build a pet cemetery on greenbelt land near Kidderminster have been turned down by planning chiefs who branded the proposal "inappropriate".

If given the go-ahead, the cemetery on land of Habberley Road, Bewdley, would have been the first of its kind in the Wyre Forest.

The developers had stated the two-acre site would be open to everything from "goldfish to elephants" and was the brainchild of a husband and wife team following the loss of their own pet.

But planners on Wyre Forest District Council have refused permission for the pet cemetery, deeming it "inappropriate" use for greenbelt land. A decision, on the council's website, reads: "The proposal, by virtue that it fails to protect the countryside from encroachment, represents inappropriate development in this green belt location.

"No very special circumstances have been submitted which would outweigh the harm by virtue of inappropriateness."

Bewdley ward councillor Stephen Clee said he was delighted by the planners decision describing the plan as "ridiculous".

The application was made by MCF Investments, based in New Road, Kidderminster, in March.

Speaking when the application was submitted MCF's agent Steven Greybanks said the land belonged to a married couple who were inspired to create a pet cemetery on the site following the death of their own pet.