A WEST Somerset visitor attraction which lost its licence to offer fun sessions with a pack of 34 golden retriever dogs has been operating without planning permission since it opened more than five years ago.

The Golden Retriever Experience (GRE), which uses a site beside Keepers Cottage, on the A39 near Carhampton, had its licence revoked by Somerset Council last May following an RSPCA investigation into standards of care for the dogs.

All of the dogs were removed by RSPCA officers, who were accompanied by police.

GRE later lodged an appeal to a first tier tribunal against the licensing decision but the case has not yet been heard despite being listed on a number of occasions, most recently in February this year.

The Golden Retriever Experience visitor attraction has been operating from behind Keepers Cottage without planning permission for five years. PHOTO: Google Maps.
The Golden Retriever Experience visitor attraction has been operating from behind Keepers Cottage without planning permission for five years. PHOTO: Google Maps. ( )

A statement posted on the GRE website last year said it would announce when bookings for 2025 were open.

It said: “We are busily renovating our premises and will be making a number of improvements over the coming months.

“This means that we will not be running our much-loved winter experience this year, but watch this space.”

Now, GRE founder Nicolas Grant St James has submitted a retrospective planning application to the council for change of use of land at Keepers Cottage to a tourist attraction with ‘associated wooden buildings, siting of shipping containers, creation of improved vehicular access, and car parking’.

Planning agent Jonathan Clarke, of XL Planning Ltd, Cullompton, said: “The GRE enterprise attracts visitors from all over the UK and from abroad.

Golden Retriever Experience
Some of the Golden Retriever Experience dogs which were removed by the RSPCA. PHOTO: GRE.

“Those clients can then also experience a diverse range of tourist activities and opportunities available in the immediate and wider surrounding area.”

Mr Clarke said Mr Grant St James ‘comprehensively researched’ what was needed for tourism in the Minehead area and felt his specialist business and experience ‘will not only benefit from the rural nature of this part of the district, the natural beauty and tranquillity of the location, but also offers a great holiday and therapeutic personal experience to users’.

He said ‘a large market’ had been identified by Mr Grant St James ‘in relation to this dog-related experience’.

Mr Clarke said GRE had been operating summer experiences on a pre-booked basis only from April to the end of September each year.

The grade two listed Keepers Cottage was owned by the Dunster Estate but the business was operated by its tenant Mr Grant St James and his staff.

Mr Clarke said: “This business is extremely popular since start-up at the beginning of the 2020s, and as with every other business the recent COVID restrictions required innovation on behalf of the operators and applicants.

“The crux of the business is to provide a unique specialist destination for visitors and is considered a perfect destination to relax and unwind from the stresses of a hectic everyday lifestyle with the opportunity to interact with the golden retrievers and knowledgeable staff.”

Mr Clarke said GRE experiences could help visitors with learning, social, and behavioural difficulties, acquired brain injury, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).