2:50pm Sunday 14th March 2010
An animal rescue centre in Little Haven is under threat as the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority (PCNPA) considers an application to retain it.
Green Acres Animal Rescue was founded in June 2008 and is run by a small band of volunteers.
The group receives no financial backing and is reliant on fundraising and donations.
Voluntary worker Sarah Kimpson explained that they did not originally realise they needed special planning permission to look after the dogs.
“It was only by chance I found out, when I spoke to someone on the national parks stand at the county show,” she said.
“We have been liaising with the authority ever since and have submitted an application for a change of use that would allow us to continue with our animal rescues.”
The application was submitted on Monday, February 22nd.
Sarah and her husband Peter own the land in Talbenny, where Green Acres is based.
She said that if the application is turned down, the centre would inevitably close.
“If we weren’t able to have dogs on our land, we would no longer be able to run.
“The whole place would have to close down.”
A spokesman for the PCNPA confirmed that it was considering a proposal, submitted by Mrs Kimpson, to retain the Green Acres Animal Rescue centre.
The planning committee is set to meet on March 24th but the spokesman said it was likely that the application would be determined by officers and would not need to be considered by the committee.
She said that a target date for a decision had been set for April 19th.
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