Howletts can build a new elephant house for its 12 elephants. The council approved the 59m by 45m building on 14 October with no objections. What is planned.

Howletts Wild Animal Park has planning permission to build a new elephant house. Canterbury City Council granted it on Wednesday 14 October.

The park, about three miles south of Canterbury near Bekesbourne, says it has the largest herd of African elephants in the UK. Its planning statement puts the herd at eight females and four males. The application says the current elephant housing “has been identified as inadequate for the herd”.

The decision was made by a planning officer under delegated powers, not by the planning committee. No one objected. Source: the council’s planning register entry for CA/26/01250.

What will be built

The officer’s report describes a building in two phases. The first phase is:

  • 59 metres by 45 metres
  • 9.8 metres to the ridge, with eaves of 7.5 metres at the front falling to 5.6 metres at the rear
  • 1,911 square metres of indoor space for the elephants
  • clad in black composite metal, with a green wall on the northern side and rooflights to let in daylight

The second phase would extend the building to 75 metres by 45 metres, adding 523 square metres. The plans also include a mezzanine and a raised walkway, which the park’s design statement says will give visitors a better view and more chance to learn about the elephants. The planning statement says the later phases will follow “once funding is available”.

Around the building, the plans add tree planting, landscaping and attenuation ponds, which hold rainwater and create new habitat.

Why the park says it needs it

The application is built around welfare standards. Zoos in Great Britain are inspected against the government’s Standards of Modern Zoo Practice, which were updated in 2025, and tighter rules for elephants are expected to take effect from 2040.

The officer’s report says the first phase meets both the current standards and the 2040 ones. It accepts the park’s case that “the current facilities for the herd of elephants at Howletts Animal Park are not sufficient to meet the required standards”. Without a new building, it says, “the existing facilities would fall short of the requirements for elephant welfare”.

The park’s animal management plan sets out how the herd will be kept during the works. Eight females and three young males will stay together as one herd in the current housing. The adult bull, Shaka, will be managed separately.

What the council and consultees said

Every consultee listed in the report either had no objection or asked only for conditions:

  • Littlebourne Parish Council: no objections
  • Kent County Council’s flood team, ecologists and archaeologists: no objections, subject to conditions
  • Southern Water: no objections, but asked for details of the rainwater harvesting system
  • the council’s environmental health, heritage, urban design and tree officers: no objections

The report found the site is mostly bare, heavily trampled ground inside the existing elephant paddock, of “relatively low ecological value”. No roosting bats were found in the open-sided shelter that will come down. On traffic, it says the park will “continue to attract broadly the same number of visitors” and use its existing car park.

The decision notice carries 10 conditions. Work must start within three years. The others cover:

  • ecological protection during construction
  • an outside lighting strategy, to protect bats
  • the biodiversity net gain plan and monitoring reports
  • landscaping and the protection of retained trees
  • archaeological investigation before building

What it means for you

  • For visitors: the park stays open. The council’s report expects no change in visitor numbers or parking. The plans do not say when building will start or how long it will take, and the park has not announced dates.
  • For neighbours in Bekesbourne and Littlebourne: the report says the site is “significantly separated” from homes and finds no lasting noise impact. Construction traffic is covered by the park’s construction management plan on the register.
  • To read the plans yourself: all the drawings, the officer’s report and the decision notice are on the planning register under CA/26/01250. Our planning applications page explains how to search it.

Sources

  • Canterbury City Council, planning application CA/26/01250: delegated officer report and decision notice, 14 October 2026
  • Howletts Wild Animal Park, planning statement, design and access statement and animal management plan submitted with the application, July 2026