An appeal against Renfrewshire Council’s decision to refuse plans for a dog daycare centre in Paisley has failed.

Catherine Archibald had submitted proposals earlier this year to turn a garage at 172 Hawkhead Road into a commercial site which would be able to care for up to 14 dogs.

Planning chiefs originally turned down the plans in May, insisting it would have a “detrimental impact” on the residential area, as barking dogs and increased traffic would create “unacceptable noise”.

But Miss Archibald mounted an appeal in a bid to push the application through, arguing there was already a boarding kennel and another dog daycare business in Hawkhead Road, and that she had taken “great care” in selecting dogs which would not be noisy.

She described the rejection as “devastating” after spending almost £15,000 of her own cash on refurbishing the garage over the past two years.

However, councillors on the Local Review Body unanimously decided on Tuesday to uphold the refusal.

There were also six objections submitted to the initial proposal which claimed there were already issues in the area with dogs barking loudly.

In her submission, Miss Archibald said: “There are currently two similar enterprises in Hawkhead Road and I would argue the noise produced from these businesses is far greater than that produced by our dogs.

“I am finding it difficult to understand why my proposal has been rejected when there are two other similar businesses extremely close.

“We have gone to great expense to refurbish the garage with sound dampening insulation. The dogs would only be on site for a small portion of the day as the majority of the time they will be on walks.

“In reference to the vehicular movements, although there will be potentially eight dogs on site each day, only a small number would be dropped off and collected by the owners.

“I have been working on this project for nearly two years and have invested more than £15,000 of my own money in refurbishing the garage and garden to a high standard.”

In their assessment, planning bosses also stated the proposals would not comply with the requirements of the Renfrewshire Local Development Plan, which seeks to maintain the amenity of areas.

Their statement said: “It is evident the proposal would be unacceptable in relation to the potential detrimental impact on amenity, essentially due to unacceptable noise impact from the dogs barking.

“The domestic garage is located in a residential area in close proximity to

neighbouring properties where the introduction of up to 14 dogs, on a commercial basis, at times throughout the day would have an unacceptable impact on the existing amenity of surrounding neighbours.”