am i allowed to put trellis up?

thecatsnose

Hello All!

I would like to put some trellis on my back fence, as it is a couple of feet lower than the side ones (I don't think by design, just that they couldn't be bothered levelling it - it is a new build). Putting some trellis up would make it the same height (ish), plus block out the flats a bit more until my lovely bamboo grows big and tall.

On the other side of the fence is a car park for some flats, so I don't think there would be a problem because it wont be in anybody elses garden, but I don't want to get into trouble or annoy anybody.

Can anybody help with this?

bostin

Give the planning department at your local council a call.
If the trellis takes the fence up over 2m in height then yes, you will definitely need it.
If below 1m, then probably not (unless they took away your 'permitted development' rights when planning permission for the development was granted.
If between 1m and 2m then it really depends on whether the Council interprets the car park as being ' a highway used by vehicular traffic'.

Relevant regulations here if you are interested:

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1995/Uksi_19950418_en_4.htm#IDAZ2D3D

scroll down to part 2 (minor operations) class a

HTH Bost

dmg24

plus block out the flats a bit more until my lovely bamboo grows big and tall.

If this will block your view, will it not block the view of the occupants of the flats also?

On the other side of the fence is a car park for some flats

Someone will own this car park, will the trellis go on to their land at all? x

Wig

If it were me, I'd just do it. What's the worst that could happen? Someone has an issue with it and you decide to take it down rather than get into a planning dispute.

olly300

Wig wrote: »

If it were me, I'd just do it. What's the worst that could happen? Someone has an issue with it and you decide to take it down rather than get into a planning dispute.

People can get nasty over fences and hedges.

The best thing is to contact the planning office as bostin suggested.

Wig

But come on, what's the worst that can happen? The council is VERY unlikely to go any further than ask that she takes it down.

paddy's_mum

The very first question you should ask yourself is 'who does the existing fence belong to?' If it is yours, there should be no problem. However, contacting the planning people at your local authority will give you a better idea of what you can and cannot do in regard to height restrictions.

If the fence does not belong to you, you have no right at all to nail anything to it, paint it or grow plants up it.

Wig

But you can provide your own support for the trellis.

thecatsnose

Thanks for all of your replys!

I don't know who the fence belongs to, I can't see anything on our plans that shows what belongs to who. The flats and houses are all part of the same development, so nobody was here first, it all just sort of happened at the same time.

The only view that the people in the flats have are of their own car park and the gardens of the houses that back onto it, so I don't know if anybody will have an issue with the bamboo or not, but at the moment we can all see straight into each others back windows, certainly can't dash about naked in the morning in case anybody cops an eyeful! We bought it off plan, and the flats didn't look as close as they are! They are only 3 stories high so we just thought it would be like having a 3 story house behind us, but it's not! We got bamboo because it isn't solid like a conifer, it moves about a lot and is quite spindley and can be thinned out.

I just fancied some of that 6ft wide by 2ft tall trellis that you can nail on top of an existing fence. Thanks for the link to the regs, I will have a look.

sooz

If you are already growing bamboo infront of the fence, I personally wouldn't bother with any trellis.

Not sure what sized bamboo you started off with. It might be quicker to get some of the same type of bamboo in a more mature and larger size. I got a huge over 6 foot tall tub of bamboo from a national chain, in their summer sale, for £15 rather than £35 pounds.

This was last year. It got rather a lot of miracle grow, as I was trying to jump start my garden. Now i wish i had not It needs chopping back every few weeks, and is regularly over 10 foot tall, and getting thicker by the day. Over the summer, we could watch it growing at a foot per day! :eek:

Bamboo does not take long to grow. Just watch out for it spreading. We planted ours in a black dustbin, and it still tries to throw out creepers, we find them on the other side of the garden :T

olly300

thecatsnose wrote: »

Thanks for all of your replys!
The only view that the people in the flats have are of their own car park and the gardens of the houses that back onto it, so I don't know if anybody will have an issue with the bamboo or not, but at the moment we can all see straight into each others back windows, certainly can't dash about naked in the morning in case anybody cops an eyeful! We bought it off plan, and the flats didn't look as close as they are! They are only 3 stories high so we just thought it would be like having a 3 story house behind us, but it's not! We got bamboo because it isn't solid like a conifer, it moves about a lot and is quite spindley and can be thinned out.

I wouldn't grow a conifer or leylandii as it may get you in trouble with the managment of the development. I'm sure but can't be bothered to do a search someone had problems with the management company of a development on this board over a conifer hedge. I'd just stick to the bamboo as sooz says (and I know from looking at a friend's) it grows very quickly and spreads.

I would suggest you go over to the greenfingered money saving board and get other suggests for hedging plants that grow quickly but aren't conifers.

BTW if you invest in white blinds, plastic obfuscation film, voile panels, shutters or even the dreaded net curtains on all your windows no one will be able to see you unless you don't draw your main curtains/blinds when the lights are on. This is how people who live in cities cope when they don't want their neighbours to have a look at them butt naked and it also hides your valuables from prying eyes.