Fence between front Not shared driveway

Tanooki99

Hello 
I am tryings to find answers without the need to contact a lawyer so I hope someone can advise.
I own a house with driveway facing a quiet public road. My driveway is separated from the neighbours by a shallow brick walll. I would like to put a fence up on the side which in my mind shall be 2 meters tall at thr start (closest to my house) and then decreasing in height. The fence would be fully on my side and not alongside thr road. So the fence will not be adjacent will be perpendicular to the public road.
Do I need planning permission or certificate of lawful development?
Thanks

Section62

Tanooki99 said:

Hello 
I am tryings to find answers without the need to contact a lawyer so I hope someone can advise.
I own a house with driveway facing a quiet public road. My driveway is separated from the neighbours by a shallow brick walll. I would like to put a fence up on the side which in my mind shall be 2 meters tall at thr start (closest to my house) and then decreasing in height. The fence would be fully on my side and not alongside thr road. So the fence will not be adjacent will be perpendicular to the public road.
Do I need planning permission or certificate of lawful development?
Thanks

The relevant permitted development rule (allowing fences no more than 1m above ground level) uses the phrase "..adjacent to a highway used by vehicular traffic..".

The meaning of "adjacent" is open to interpretation - case law suggests "adjacent" can mean several metres away (i.e. including 'perpendicular' walls/fences) not just those that are on the boundary with the highway. Unless the house is set back a long way from the road then a reasonable safe rule of thumb is that "adjacent" means anything in the front garden of the house.

This also assumes the property has the necessary permitted development rights to start with - you'll first need to work out what (if any) rights the property has.

Regardless of the letter of the law, what may count more here is if anyone (e.g. the neighbour) is likely to object to you putting up a 2m fence.  If the reason you want to do it is (for example) because you and the neighbour don't get on, then it is possibly more likely that someone will complain to the council and force the issue.  Ditto if most of the houses in the street have low fences/walls.

The key thing for the council will be whether the height of the wall/fence reduces intervisibility of pedestrians/traffic using the road and driveway - closer to the road the wall/fence may have to be very low so a driver emerging from your driveway can see what is coming on the road.

Only the council can tell you for sure if this would be permitted development - and this is what certificates of lawful development can help with.

Albermarle

A 2 M high fence could well look a bit odd, especially if it is right up to the pavement edge ( if that was actually allowed)
I think a 1 M fence would look more normal.

TELLIT01

We have properties near me with hedges between properties 2 metres high, and more, so in theory a 2 metre fence shouldn't be an issue.  The OPs suggestion of high by the house and lower further forward should be OK.