Ashford cattery plans approved despite fears of loud meows

The cattery applicants said they would offer a home drop-off service of the cats to reduce traffic

Plans to build a cattery in a Surrey town are going ahead despite neighbours' fears over smell and "loud meows".

Spelthorne borough councillors voted in favour of the 12-bed feline "hotel" on a residential road in Ashford.

Co-applicant Nicola Aldridge argued the building was completely enclosed, which would greatly reduce sound.

She said that "cats are clean and do not smell" and pens would be washed daily.

The application for 12 walk-in style enclosures with capacity for 24 cats in a rear garden was granted for a two-year trial period.

Conservative councillor Olivia Rybinksi, who called the plans to debate, said the cattery would be very difficult to live next to.

"If anyone has one cat, they know how loud a meow can sound. Now times that by 24. Day and night," she said.

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Concerns over cats meowing in distress during the night were dismissed by officers who said cats "are actually crepuscular, which means they are more active at dawn and dusk. This idea of them being nocturnal is a bit of a myth".

The smell, especially in the heat, "would be awful for residents and could stop them enjoying their gardens," said councillor Rybinksi.

But Ms Aldridge pledged to use odour-reducing litter and said waste would be collected by a specialist company.

A cattery has recently been built in nearby Staines.

"You can go past it and you don't even know it's a cattery," said Green councillor Malcom Beecher.

"You do not hear it, you do not smell it and there is very little traffic in the roads," he added.

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