Row erupts after council orders woman to tear down luxury enclosure for blind and deaf cats

Council row: Digby Crecent in Finsbury Park, where Josie Hitchens has built her enclosure
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Patrick Grafton-Green25 November 2017

A row has erupted after a council ordered a woman to tear down her luxury enclosure for blind and deaf cats.

Josie Hitchens, from Finsbury Park, has been told she faces having her “catio” demolished after complaints from neighbours.

Ms Hitchens built the three-foot wide, six-foot high structure in her back yard in Digby Crescent in 2012, initially to house a guinea pig and rabbit, according to the Hackney Gazette.

Now it houses her five felines – four blind and one deaf, the paper reported.

Hackney Council says the structure requires planning permission and has asked for it to be removed or a planning application submitted.

But Ms Hitchens hit back, saying the structure "enriches" her cats' environment and adding "it is imperative" they get fresh air.

She told the Gazette: “This is beyond distressing for me, as I have a learning difficulty and complex PTSD with a limited income.

“I have several therapy blind cats and they help me with my PTSD symptoms, but the council is not interested in this.”

Ms Hitchens said she is the "victim of a hate campaign”. She said the council assumes the structure is an "extension” but claims it is not.

A Hackney Council spokeswoman said: “Following complaints from local residents we are investigating a structure that has been built at the property mentioned to establish if it requires planning permission.

“Officers have now established that it does require planning permission and have asked that the structure, in accordance with planning law, either be removed or a planning application is submitted.

“Hopefully a planning application will be forthcoming and officers have helpfully advised that a structure of a smaller size would be more likely to be given permission.”

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