PROPOSALS for a dog grooming salon to operate in a garage in Winwick have been given the green light.

Plans had been submitted to Warrington Borough Council’s planning department for a change of use of the rear part of a detached domestic garage for business use.

The garage in question is located on Austen Drive on the Winwick Park estate, with the application being approved.

Documents state that the garage is to be divided internally through a partition wall, with just over half of the building being for business use, while the remaining space will be retained as a conventional domestic garage.

There will be no external changes to the garage, which will retain its traditional up-and-over door, with customers accessing the trading area via the existing side door.

The business will operate strictly appointment only offering one-to-one dog grooming, meaning there will only ever be one client in attendance at any one time.

The standard industry practice is for dogs to be left in the care of groomers for appointments, with owners returning to collect them at the completion.

It is anticipated that the maximum number of clients attending on any single day would be four during busier periods, with each appointment being around two hours.

Documents add: “Home salons for dog grooming are becoming increasingly popular, and demand for such services continues to grow.

“There are only three dog groomers operating within a two mile radius of Austen Drive, of which only one operates as a one-to-one service.

“By opening my business, it will greatly assist not only the residents of Winwick Park, a large proportion of whom are dog owners themselves, but also those living in the wider local area by offering another choice for one-to-one dog grooming in a private setting.

“I know from my personal experience of trying to find a suitable groomer for my own dogs that most professionals have a wait time of six weeks for bookings, with some even having closed their diaries to new customers.

“This may in part be due to the increase in dog ownership within the UK that occurred during the recent pandemic, increasing the need for such services exponentially.”