An animal rescue service has applied to develop kennels and a cattery in the Oldham Green Belt, saying it "desperately needs" to be given permission.
Pennine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) was set up in 2007 in Todmorden, West Yorkshire, by Sue Curran, who started fostering dogs in her home.
Since then, PAWS has rescued, rehomed and rehabilitated 1,500 cats and dogs in areas including Burnley, Halifax, Rochdale and, more recently, Saddleworth and Oldham.
Ms Curran told The Oldham Times: "It's my life's work, I live with the animals.
"I don't know what I'd do without it."
In January last year, the landlord issued PAWS with a notice ending their tenancy at their previous base, with the rescue service eventually moving out at the end of July this year.
Since then, PAWS has not been in operation, with animals currently in boarding kennels as it waits to be given planning permission.
Now, PAWS has submitted an application to Oldham Council, seeking to convert a vacant stable block into kennels and to build a separate cattery on Green Belt land in Delph which it has bought.
The land with the existing breezeblock building is based off of Hill Top Lane and Badger Edge Lane in Saddleworth.
Ms Curran said PAWS has been looking for a new home for three years and that the land near Delph is the only place they have found which would suit the rescue service.
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According to a planning statement prepared by MacMarshalls Rural Chartered Surveyors and Planning Consultants, on behalf of PAWS, the empty stables would be converted into eight kennels, with extensions to the front and rear of the building.
Meanwhile, the cattery building would be built to the west of the existing building and would have 10 bays for cats, including three isolation units, and an office.
An existing storage container would be removed, while the planning statement adds that a horse and pony that currently graze at the site would continue to do so.
The site lies in the Green Belt, but PAWS argues the reuse of an existing building "would not detract from [the] openness" of the land.
Along with the development of the kennels and the construction of a cattery, PAWS has proposed to develop a car park and part of the land would be used as a dog exercise field.
In the application, PAWS, which has been a registered charity since 2014, said the circumstances of the proposal are "very special" and would outweigh any harm to the Green Belt.
PAWS previously applied to use the same space to develop two kennels along with the cattery in May this year, but the plans were refused in July on the grounds that the openness of the Green Belt would be harmed.
Ms Curran said: "We've downsized the buildings and changed everything they've asked us to - now we just pray.
"I hate to think what would happen if planning was refused, it would be the end of PAWS, let's face it."
The animal rescue service says it has "exhausted" all other potential premises and that it "desperately needs" to use the land as it has "nowhere else to go".
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