Couple's dream zoo plan foiled

Steve Bealey has reinvented Norfolk Wildlife Centre under a new name, Animal Ark, which will only keep farm and domestic animals.

08 May 2007 09:38

A couple's lifelong dream of running a Norfolk zoo turned into a nightmare as visitor numbers plummeted, they were hit with a huge tax bill and safety failings meant there was a risk of wolves escaping.

Steve and Barbara Bealey thought their dreams had come true when they bought the Norfolk Wildlife Centre in Great Witchingham seven years ago.

However, the couple, who spent thousands of pounds on the venture, are now fighting to keep the struggling tourist attraction open after a series of setbacks.

These include:

Having proposals to improve the site turned down by planning officials.

Being hit with a VAT bill for £30,000 and then threatened with a winding up order before paying off the money in instalments.

Visitor numbers dropping from 100,000 a year in its 1960s heyday to just 15,000 now.

Being handed a safety inspection report which said wolves could escape under the fencing and children were at risk of falling into the Arctic fox enclosure.

Losing a licence to show dangerous animals after failing to provide proof of public liability insurance due to an administrative error.

The couple are now reinventing the park under a new name, Animal Ark, which will only keep farm and domestic animals.

The collection of exotic animals is being kept out of the public eye while new homes are found for them.

Mr Bealey, 53, pictured left at the new-look park, said today: “It is such a shame things have not gone right because our collection was so different. It wasn't a traditional collection with lions and tigers, we had all sorts of exotic European animals which cannot be found anywhere else in England.

“It is massively disappointing because we have put a lot of hard work into building this place up. We have never made any money and have been making a loss for most of the years we have been here. The feed bills alone come to about £17,000 per year.

“I am upset about what happened, but I think Broadland District Council has acted very fairly. I just think some laws we have to deal with are over the top and inconsistent.” The couple met more than 30 years ago when they both worked as keepers at the park, which was founded in 1961 by naturalist Philip Wayre.

They married and bought the attraction in 2000 for £350,000. At the time, Mr Bealey said: “We never thought that one day we might own the place. It really is a dream come true.”

The park was home to Barbary apes, lynx, wolves, wild boar, chipmunks, chinchillas and a variety of birds and reptiles.

Four years after buying the zoo, the couple hoped to fund major improvements by building homes on part of the 20-acre site, but these plans were thrown out by Broadland District Council.

Then last year, things went horribly wrong following an inspection by the council's environmental health officers.

A report, obtained by the Evening News using the Freedom of Information Act, said: “All animals should be kept in enclosures so constructed as to avoid escape. The wolves need a more secure enclosure. The evidence of a large hole, created by digging, is of concern.”

The letter goes on to say that guard rails needed to be installed on all edges to prevent people, especially children, from falling into the Arctic fox enclosure.

Mr Bealey said he had made the changes advised upon and was in the process of rehoming the animals he could no longer keep on show to the public.

The new park has wallabies, llamas, muntjac deer, swans, geese and farm animals such as pigs and cattle, as well as rabbits and guinea pigs.

Andy Jarvis, head of Environmental Services at Broadland council, said: “The council is now satisfied with animal welfare at the premises.”

Have your dreams turned into a nightmare? Contact reporter Dominic Chessum on 01603 772428 or email dominic.chessum@archant.co.uk

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