Special Protection Areas: Pets

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 9 February 2010, Official Report, column 831W, on special protection areas: cats, whether (a) his Department, (b) the Planning Inspectorate and (c) the Homes and Communities Agency has provided guidance to local authorities on the imposition of planning conditions in respect of areas with special protection area status to prohibit the keeping of cats and dogs in new housing developments; and if he will direct local authorities to cease the practice of prohibiting the keeping of domestic pets through the imposition of planning conditions. (319183)

No. Neither the present model conditions in DoE Circular 11/95 “The Use of Conditions in Planning Permissions”, nor those recommended by the Planning Inspectorate, include any conditions on the keeping of animals.