Dog exercise field planning trends
Councils received 377 dog exercise field applications in the 12 months to September 2026, close to their highest share of applications since 2016.
Dog exercise field applications since 2016
Dog exercise field applications in every 10,000 planning applications, over the 12 months to each month
How this is measuredFrom 18 in 2016 to 355 in 2025
Applications rose from 18 in 2016 to 110 in 2020 and 252 in 2021, then from 325 in 2023 to 355 in 2025. In the 12 months to September 2026 they made up 8.7 in every 10,000 applications, close to the highest since 2016.
Most concentrated in the East Midlands
Over 2023 to 2025 the East Midlands had 16 dog field applications in every 10,000, and the East of England 11. The South East had 5.5. North Yorkshire has the most since 2016, 69, ahead of East Riding of Yorkshire on 47.
Q3 2026 against a year earlier
Councils received 95 dog exercise field applications in Q3 2026: 9.2 in every 10,000 applications, against 9.0 in Q3 2025, a share of all applications 3% higher than a year earlier.
Dog exercise field applications each quarter
95 in Q3 2026, against 98 a year earlier.
Out of every 10,000 applications
As a share of every application: 9.2 in every 10,000 in Q3 2026, against 9.0 a year earlier.
Where dog exercise field applications concentrate
By region
Dog exercise field applications in every 10,000 planning applications, 2023 to 2025
Councils with the most
Applications since 2016
-
North Yorkshire
Yorkshire and Humber · 10 in every 10,000 69 -
East Riding of Yorkshire
Yorkshire and Humber · 16 in every 10,000 47 -
Wiltshire
South West · 7.2 in every 10,000 41 -
Cornwall
South West · 5.2 in every 10,000 40 -
Somerset
South West · 6.3 in every 10,000 36 -
Cheshire East
North West · 8.9 in every 10,000 34 -
South Norfolk and Broadland (shared register)
East of England · 12 in every 10,000 34 -
West Northamptonshire
East Midlands · 7.3 in every 10,000 26 -
Aberdeenshire
Scotland · 9.0 in every 10,000 22 -
City of Bradford
Yorkshire and Humber · 5.5 in every 10,000 22
Latest dog exercise field applications
- Land At Wick Farm Wick Road Tring Hertfordshire Change of use of land from agricultural to dog walking field.
- Dog Walking Land At E563767 N314229 Setch Road Setchey Norfolk Change of use of agricultural land to dog walking field and associated works including car park area shelter and bin storage and fencing
- Northwick Boarding Kennels Northwick Road Canvey Island Essex Change of use of land to secure dog walking field and constructing 2m high fence and gates (retrospective)
- 2 Kirkman Street, Bury Change of use of land from field to a secure dog field/dog exercise area (Sui Generis) with perimeter fencing and access from High Bank Road
- Woodlands Paw Ground Gravelly Ways Laddingford Kent Change of Use of agricultural to dog exercise field. Erection of fencing and associated gates on all sides. Improvement of existing entrance and creation of new exist to/from Gravelly Ways with a linking track. (retrospective)
- Field 91663240 South Cave And Everthorpe Estate Everthorpe Road Everthorpe East Riding Of Yorkshire Change of use of agricultural land to form a secure dog walking field
How often are they refused?
Of 1,191 received 2016 to 2024 and decided, 19.2% were refused, well above the 11.3% for all applications.
Refusal rate by year
Decisions, applications received 2016 to 2024
- Approved or refused1,191
- Refused19.2%
- Withdrawn before a decision168
- All applications11.3% refused
Questions
How many dog exercise field planning applications are there in the UK?
Councils have received 2,144 since January 2016, 377 of them in the 12 months to September 2026. Their share peaked in the 12 months to July 2026.
Which councils receive the most dog exercise field applications?
North Yorkshire, East Riding of Yorkshire and Wiltshire have received the most since 2016.
How often are dog exercise field applications refused?
Of 1,191 received 2016 to 2024 and decided, 19.2% were refused, well above the 11.3% for all applications.
How many dog fields are there in the UK?
Farmers Weekly, in May 2026, quoted Hannah James of British Dog Fields putting the number of registered dog fields in the UK at fewer than 600 in 2018 and around 4,000 by the end of 2025.
About Plota
Plota is the UK's most visited planning search, according to Similarweb. It shows every new planning application from every UK council, read daily from 390 planning registers, with past applications back to 2016 from more than 420 registers, including those of councils since merged. It also covers planning committee decisions, HMO licences and premises licences.
How this is measured
What needs an application
In England, land can be used temporarily for up to 28 days a year without planning permission, so a field opened only on occasional days needs no application.
Methodology
- What is counted: planning applications to UK councils whose description names dog exercise fields or a close variant of the words, by the date each council received them. These are planning applications, not completed schemes; the largest energy and infrastructure projects are consented nationally rather than by councils, so they sit outside these counts.
- How matches are checked: we read the 200 most recent dog exercise field applications and 20 from every year since 2016 to confirm each one belongs.
- Topic counts leave out, by design, works to trees and applications that only discharge conditions, amend an earlier permission or approve reserved matters, which follow a scheme already counted. Everything else is counted.
- A share is the number out of every 10,000 applications over the previous 12 months. Each topic is a number in every 10,000 planning applications, so trends compare when overall planning activity changes; the share still moves when either the topic's count or the total does. This topic has no planning index: councils received fewer than 20 in 2016, too few to measure change against.
- Source: the planning registers of every UK council, January 2016 to September 2026, read on 9 November 2026.
- Planning is seasonal, so each quarter is compared with the same quarter a year earlier.
- Year on year: each topic's and theme's share of all applications in Q3 2026, against Q3 2025, at every council we hold. A share is the number in every 10,000 applications. Shares compare across councils and years; raw counts do not.
- Left out of the topic shares: Birmingham's applications from June to September 2026: a validation backlog at the council since June 2026: of 685 reference numbers it issued in September, its register lists 288. The same months a year earlier are left out too, so every comparison covers the same councils.
- Refusals: applications received 2016 to 2024 and decided, at councils whose published decisions pass our checks against their decision notices. Approvals and refusals count; withdrawals do not. "All applications" means every decision of that kind at the same councils over the same years. Applications received from 2025 are added once most are decided.
- Download the data (CSV): every topic and theme, each quarter since 2016.
Sources
- Hannah James of British Dog Fields, quoted by Farmers Weekly in May 2026: fewer than 600 registered dog fields in the UK in 2018 and around 4,000 by the end of 2025. fwi.co.uk
- In England, Class B, Part 4 of the permitted development order allows temporary use of land for up to 28 days a year. planninggeek.co.uk