Proposed Planning affecting our property - advice on legal situation?

Willowgill

Hi please bear with me as this is a long post!

We moved into our property 34 years ago - it was built in 1964. The garden backed onto a public club which had 2 large brick sheds approximately 10 feet high - the walls of which run almost the length of the garden with a shorter height wall at one end. There was no existing fence - in fact as there were two very large poplar trees in our garden with preservation orders on them it would have been impossible to erect a fence behind them in front of the wall. Over the years we have obviously grown foliage and plants in the area and also put up a summerhouse in the corner with the wall behind it. We applied for and were granted permission to remove the trees as they were diseased so the planting has now grown right along the wall where they were.

Some years ago the club went into receivership and became derelict and eventually (very conveniently for someone!) 3 years ago burned down resulting in the main building being demolished and the site becoming an eyesore. The sheds were vandalised with drug addicts using them and they were set fire to several times which eventually led to the roof being removed on one side and a side wall taken down. All in all the whole area has been a real problem for not only us but neighbouring properties in the vicinity.

The land has finally been sold and planning put in for a housing estate of 24 social housing properties which is now where the problem for us begins. Our house is the only one directly affected by the estate as they will most certainly demolish the sheds and the wall of our garden. The plans include a 'bin access' alley behind the terraced houses which will be behind us - another neighbour objected to this siting anti-social behaviour which the police agreed could be an issue so they have stipulated the alley must be lit and a 1.8m open plan see through fence erected rather than a normal fence.  Whilst we are in agreement that the land should be developed to improve the area, for us personally, having had the privacy of a high wall all these years to suddenly have our garden decimated as it's pulled down and the lower fence put in - which we feel will have security issues for our property - not to mention the lit alley we are in total despair as we don't know where we stand legally on this. Is there such a thing as a precedence having had this privacy for so long whereby we can object to the wall being removed? It would be impossible for us to erect a fence prior to it being removed due to all the roots etc along the area as well as it going behind the summerhouse. Although the development also extends along the neighbours garden they are shielded by a 20 ft conifer hedge as well as a 10ft fence he had put up behind them some years ago - the wall just extends into their garden by about 2 ft and also their house is on an angle to the garden so they won't be overlooked.

Anyone have any advice on what we can do please. Apologies for the length of this!

TELLIT01

Object to the removal of the wall and the accompanying loss of privacy.  Request that a boundary wall 2 metres high be constructed when the buildings are demolished.

Doozergirl

In theory, you can replace it with your own wall of a similar height on your side as there is precedent for a wall that high.  You'd need planning permission, really, before that wall comes down. 

Best to take matters into your own hands that rely on a developer for anything.  They often wriggle out of what they don't want to do and privacy won't be counted as an issue if the houses are far enough away to meet the planners' requirements.  

Davesnave

Solutions to problems like this are always best achieved in-house. It's hard luck, but as Doozer points out, being pro-active and gaining permission to erect your own wall now might be the best way to achieve what you want and be certain about it.

Otherwise, the low-cost option is growing something tall with a prickly under-storey to achieve shielding and security. Pleached hornbeam underplanted with rosa rugosa, both bought as bare roots in winter time would do the job behind a basic fence.

TheCyclingProgrammer

I would investigate ways of erecting your own fence on your side of the boundary even if that means some expense in removing roots to make that possible. You may not be able to extend it behind the summerhouse but the summerhouse should provide some privacy to that section of the boundary shouldn't it?

Besides a fence you could also consider hedging - you'd still need to remove the old tree roots and prepare the soil but this would probably be a nicer solution than putting a fence up - you can plant them a few feet in from the boundary and let them grow to fill the space. Even better, if budget permits, would be to purchase some ready-made mature hedging. 

Willowgill

Thanks for your responses. We have looked again at the plans and found a link to another page which shows boundary treatment layouts. This states that existing walls and fences will be retained and the lines seem to indicate our boundary where the wall is. We need to clarify this obviously and ascertain that the wall will be made safe and secure if they demolish the remaining walls and roof but if this is the case it will be a huge relief. We still don't understand if this means another fence will be erected on the other side of it. Hopefully we will get some answers before the developers begin building work!