New house, garden next to B road, fencing planning permission?

hopeitwill

Hi everyone,

We have just started moving into our new house, and when we were buying, we had to trade off noisy neighbours with some road noise to get a detached house in a safe area in between our work places and within our budget. We knew it would be a bit noisy because we went to see it during rush hour. We also visited on a weekend.

Inside, we don't really notice the noise, unless it's like the odd motorbike passing by. We were already living in a busy area, but it was def quieter in the garden when the neighbours weren't there at our rental.

The problem lies mostly in the fencing in the back as it very very old, it belongs to us, but almost on the verge of decay. Neighbours on both sides seem to have very nice fencing and shrubbery in the back.

We're thinking of getting acoustic fencing after a survey with a sound engineer. But does anybody have an experience with how much cost that would incur for a survey?

And my second question is about a planning permission. The fence isn't adjacent to the road but it is near it with very large trees in between. Would we need a planning permission for the fence if it goes over 1m? The existing fence is definitely over 1,5m. Here is how it looks from google maps. The blue line is where the fence is. Neighbours' fences and shrubbery are also well over a meter as well.



Thanks for any help!

Section62

hopeitwill said:

We have just started moving into our new house,

I would aim to live in the house for at least 6 months before deciding to do anything. Noise from roads and railways typically starts out as very intrusive, but after a short period of time you get used to it, and are more likely to notice unusual periods of quietness rather than the noise. Individual perceptions vary though, for some people the intrusion will be greater than for others.

You also need to consider where the most intrusive noise is coming from. A short length of acoustic barrier on your property close to the road will provide little benefit if the sound is coming from further away and arriving from the sides via the neighbour's gardens.  Sometimes it is better to create a smaller screened/quiet area within the garden rather than attempting to protect the whole garden.

As well as checking the general planning rules you also need to look into any planning conditions and/or covenants applying specifically to your property.

hopeitwill

Section62 said:

hopeitwill said:

We have just started moving into our new house,

I would aim to live in the house for at least 6 months before deciding to do anything. Noise from roads and railways typically starts out as very intrusive, but after a short period of time you get used to it, and are more likely to notice unusual periods of quietness rather than the noise. Individual perceptions vary though, for some people the intrusion will be greater than for others.

You also need to consider where the most intrusive noise is coming from. A short length of acoustic barrier on your property close to the road will provide little benefit if the sound is coming from further away and arriving from the sides via the neighbour's gardens.  Sometimes it is better to create a smaller screened/quiet area within the garden rather than attempting to protect the whole garden.

As well as checking the general planning rules you also need to look into any planning conditions and/or covenants applying specifically to your property.

Thank you Section62, it is not an urgent change and personally i lived in big cities, across different countries, in flats and shared houses etc. City noise never bothered me but neighbour noise was always a nuisance for me so that's why we wanted a detached house.

We will probably get used to it quickly but we would also like the garden to look better as the fence is not very pretty on the eyes. Both neighbouring properties have new fences from what I could see and very tall shrubbery to mask it presumably.

There is only one covenant on the fence on the freehold and it says not to allow it to fall into despair, so probably covenants won't be a problem?

We could create lots of things to deal with it, there is a large pond, so we can create a waterfall. There are quite a few possibilities, but we just don't like how old the fence looks.

Apodemus

I certainly wouldn't spend any money on an acoustic survey - you know the level of noise and the source, so you will just be paying for someone to give you a report telling you what you already know!

theoretica

Do you want to increase the height of the fence or just 'repair' what is there?

https://www.planningportal.co.uk/info/200130/common_projects/20/fences_gates_and_garden_walls

'if an existing fence, wall or gate already exceeds the limits above, that its height would not be increased.'

Trees and shrubs are also good at keeping noise and dust at bay.

hopeitwill

Thank you @theoretica, we would like to repair what is there with an acoustic fence and put trees and shrubbery on our side.

But then I question if there is a limit on the height of the shrubbery if it's before the fence in the back. Maybe we just need a conversation with them.

One of the neighbours have a fence of about 2 meters, but even taller shrubbery within the boundary of their garden. I assume it is allowed but not 100% sure still.

Section62

hopeitwill said:

We will probably get used to it quickly but we would also like the garden to look better as the fence is not very pretty on the eyes. Both neighbouring properties have new fences from what I could see and very tall shrubbery to mask it presumably.

Unless it is in a worse structural condition than "almost on the verge of decay" suggests then have you considered giving it a coat of fence treatment (of your choice) to make it look better, as a stop gap?

If you are unsure of the need for something more acoustically effective, and the height you want might require planning consent, then overcoming the visual issue on a temporary basis could give you time to explore all the other options for a longer-term solution.

princeofpounds

Yes a tall fence will need planning permission. It's normally anything over 2m.

As for acoustic fencing - get ready to be disappointed. Sound diffracts quite efficiently around obstacles. If you are only putting up a short width of fence, it will have a similar effect to holding a tennis table bat between your ear and someone speaking (i.e. not much). It's only an effective solution when it's wide, high, heavy, and either the noise source or you are well within its 'acoustic shadow'. 

That's not to say it won't have any effect at all, but it's unlikely to be large.

If you can get your neighbours to join in, that might start to make more of an impact.

hopeitwill

Thanks both, we'll probably ask what they have done to the new neighbours as their gardens are as large as ours, they both have new fencing but also very thick wide and long shrubbery.

I guess it's a bit weird to insist on new stuff on a money saving forum

Our seller seems like he wanted to create some stuff to fend it off but it seems now like they were all half finished. So it'll be up to us to finish the work he had started.