Fencing question - detached property

wicca1688

Hello all. I am after some fencing advice please.

We live in a detached property on a side/corner slot so essentially our house sits on the bend as you drive around our small estate. We have recently done some garden work and removed 2 old fences that were damaged and over grown with weeds etc and replaced it with a new roughly, 6ft fence on the edge of our rear/side garden/boundary. This does run along the pavement that curves around our estate however it also would look directly into our garden and rear patio doors. 

Someone has recently reported us to the council for this and they have stated that we need planning permission for this fence, however should we put it in (at a cost of around £230) it would not be approved as our new fence causes unacceptable harm (not sure how a fence does that!) and is not in keeping with the green open plan design of the estate and is unfavourable.

We have placed it 1.83 meters from the entrance to our drive to allow for sight line when coming off the drive and the fence encompasses our garden to allow security for our 2 young children and dog, as well as privacy. 

My question is can the council make us take it down/shorten it to 1m?

My husband wants to argue it out as some of our other neighbours have the exact same fence and are the same corner type property we are. Furthermore he wants to go down the human rights - right to privacy - should it come to that! The council's reply is that these fences/walls of our neighbours may have been already in situ when the estate was built (which they weren't) but even if they were, why were they deemed acceptable then and not now?

If absolutely needed and they make us shorten it we can place hedges along the border of it (at extra cost!) and wait for them to grow or add some trellis panels on top of the shortened 1m fence to add privacy, as I am under the impression trellis on top of a 1m fence can be done provided it doesn't go above 2m unless someone corrects me??

However are these steps needed and is there any advice anyone can offer. This fence is maintained by us and does not go into any neighbours land or shared with anyone else for clarity. Thanks in advance!

Martin_the_Unjust

Yes, your council can make you take it down.

You say it doesn’t affect your sight lines but does it affect the sight lines of people and pedestrians using the road and footpath?

booksandbikes

Your house sounds similar to ours, being a corner house with a lack of privacy. Rather than have all the fuss of the regulations and possible disputes over a fence, we decided to go with hedging. We had some griselinia planted, which are very fast growing. It has been about 3 years and they are now about 4ft tall, and growing very rapidly. 

LightFlare

One just by us sounds very similar and has just had restrospective permission refused:



it may/will depend on the local policies and level of enforcement

Albermarle

How tall were the original fences you took down ? Apart from the height, have you just replaced the old fences or also added to them.?

Bookworm105

unfortunately for you the answer is yes, the council has power in this case
planning permission does set a height restriction of 1 metre for fences that border a highway used by vehicles (or borders that highway's footpath), even if it is your "back" garden.
 
that does not mean it is impossible to have such, indeed in our street the first in it has a back garden parallel to the road and so has a 6ft fence along its entire length. 

The bottom line however is, now you have been reported, the council is acting within its power to require PP, corner plot notwithstanding. If you go at the council with the aggressive stance you show on here then compromise/common sense may not prevail

Ganga

Any chance of a couple of photos.

ic

https://www.planningportal.co.uk/permission/common-projects/fences-gates-and-garden-walls/planning-permission

You should have applied for planning.  Given you've installed it, you can either tear it down and not apply; leave it and not apply (and await enforcement action); or apply for retrospective permission.  If you apply, they might grant it and it'll be the end of the matter.

Could also talk to the planning department first and ask you chances if you do apply - they've no doubt seen photos already or even visited site.  Perhaps if its a bright brown colour, you could offer to tone it down by apply a darker brown or green colour for example. 

However, they might simply turn it down on the fact you've removed the sight lines for cars approaching the junction, and they won't move on the matter as its a safety issue.

TELLIT01

ic said:

https://www.planningportal.co.uk/permission/common-projects/fences-gates-and-garden-walls/planning-permission

You should have applied for planning.  Given you've installed it, you can either tear it down and not apply; leave it and not apply (and await enforcement action); or apply for retrospective permission.  If you apply, they might grant it and it'll be the end of the matter.

Could also talk to the planning department first and ask you chances if you do apply - they've no doubt seen photos already or even visited site.  Perhaps if its a bright brown colour, you could offer to tone it down by apply a darker brown or green colour for example. 

However, they might simply turn it down on the fact you've removed the sight lines for cars approaching the junction, and they won't move on the matter as its a safety issue.

The OP has said that the council has informed him that a retrospective application will not be approved.  A fast growing hedge would seem to be the only option.