Do I need planning permission for driveway boundary/side metal railings?

akorn77

Hi, I have a 2 bed terraced house with a bog standard driveway big enough to fit 2 cars. I want to fit metal railings at the two sides (left and right) of the driveway which will 1.50-2m high. There is currently nothing at the front of the driveway and I dont plan on installing anything. In front of my driveway is the pavement and then the road (again, bog standard set up). 

I read up on the rules around this, but dont understand them at all. 

The rules read:

• Where any gate, fence or railing fronts onto a public highway or footpath and is over 1000mm in height. For other parts of the property away from public space planning permission is not normally required where the height is less than 2000mm

The part that's confusing me, is what is defined as a "public highway or footpath"? Nearly all the houses on the road have some sort of brick/metal fencing/railings at the sides of their driveway, surely planning permission isnt needed for such a basic thing? 

Doozergirl

If you're in a terrace and you're talking about the side boundaries, they don't front onto the public highway.  

Fronting onto a public highway would be a front wall.  

akorn77

Doozergirl said:

If you're in a terrace and you're talking about the side boundaries, they don't front onto the public highway.  

Fronting onto a public highway would be a front wall.  

Thought so! That means I'd only need planning permission if i was also putting metal railings at the front of the driveway? 

JGB1955

Doesn't  sound to me that they are 'fronting" the highway' (I.e.parallel/180 degrees to it) but are at right angles to it...90 degrees, so no problem.

Doozergirl

akorn77 said:

Doozergirl said:

If you're in a terrace and you're talking about the side boundaries, they don't front onto the public highway.  

Fronting onto a public highway would be a front wall.  

Thought so! That means I'd only need planning permission if i was also putting metal railings at the front of the driveway? 

In a word, yes!

Section62

akorn77 said:

Thought so! That means I'd only need planning permission if i was also putting metal railings at the front of the driveway? 

Possibly.

The rules you were looking at were those for permitted development.  But in some situations PD doesn't apply, so there is a further rule to consider -

"the right to put up or alter fences, walls and gates has not been removed by an article four direction or a planning condition."
https://www.planningportal.co.uk/info/200130/common_projects/20/fences_gates_and_garden_walls

Planning conditions regarding landscaping and fences are far more common that people imagine, especially for front gardens, and the neighbours having fences is no guide to whether or not an A4 Direction (e.g. a conservation area) or planning conditions are in place.  They could have different planning conditions to you, or they might have been unaware of the conditions when they put the fence up.

Finding out whether an A4 direction applies to your property is relatively easy to do online if it is an area one.  But to find what applies to your property specifically usually means asking the council for details.