PLANNING proposals for a Kennel Club headquarters canine centre at Chepstow Racecourse were approved at a Monmouthshire County Council (MCC) planning committee meeting yesterday (2nd August).

The proposal includes the demolition of the condemned northern spectator stand, and the building of a multi-purpose centre on the vacant site. The plans were submitted in March as a joint venture between Arena Racing (owners of Chepstow racecourse) and the Welsh Kennel Club.

The single story building will feature rooms around a large central hall which will function as a show ring for dog shows and training. The centre will also be used to facilitate up to 2,000 people on race days, and provide a space for exhibitions, fairs and events throughout the year. It will create two new full-time positions and up to 30 part time jobs on race days.

Although supporting the principle of the proposals, St Arvans community council had voiced concerns about the use of the northern entrance for those dropping off dogs. Although visitors to the centre will use the current parking and pedestrian set up, exhibitors may use a northern entrance which cuts across a cycle and public footpath “frequented by school children.”

However, concerns were alleviated with the introduction of a traffic management plan as part of the conditions of approval.

Councillor Harris, speaking at the planning committee meeting, said: “The community council knows the area extremely well, and knows what the problems are. I just hope the council and the developers can get together to combine the expertise to make it as safe as possible.”

Executive Director of Chepstow Racecourse Phil Bell said: “This is a positive move as it allows for more people at the racecourse and in the area, and will provide a great facility which can be open all days of the year. Alongside the Kennel Club shows and training days, the hall will provide much needed exhibition space to the area. At more than 1,000 square feet, we believe it will be the biggest indoor space without columns in Monmouthshire.

“For race days, it will provide much needed indoor space; currently we can house fewer than 1,000 under cover. The current North Stand is not fit for purpose any more, it was fine 30 years ago but has become a bit of a relic.

“It’s early days yet, but we’ll be aiming to use the space for primarily exhibitions and fairs. The traffic for these events will be significantly lower than a race day.

“Broadly speaking, this is a fifty fifty venture with the Kennel Club. We believe it’ll be around a nine month build time. Although we don’t know exactly when it will begin, we hope it will be open before the end of next summer, but of course this is currently unconfirmed.”