Front garden fence

[moxxnixx]

Hi, I've just finished replacing the front garden fence of my flat. I live upstairs and have sole use of the front(paved) garden.
The original fence i've replaced was approx 6ft and has been up for 30yrs, its been replaced to the same height with decking boards to the same height. I've just recieved a letter from the council stating that the fence is oversized, would have required planning permission(which they would have refused) and needs to be lowererd to one metre.Where do i stand, the deeds state that the fence has to be 6ft for the privacy of the downstairs flat whose bedroom is at the front. Also the neighbour has his side fence at the same height. I will be speaking to the council on monday but would like to be clearer with regards to my rights. Cheers Bluetop

 

[Thermo]

if its on the boundary with a road then the council are correct. its doesnt matter if its been there 100 years, or what the lease says, its the planning laws which will hold sway.

 

[bernardgreen]

If the fence has been 6 foot high for many years and the council has not previously objected then there is a good case that the new fence can be as high as the previous one that it replaced.

Ironically when a semi collapsed stone wall was rebuilt at four feet high, a foot lower than the previous wall, the local council enforced that it be built to the original 5 foot height.

 

[moxxnixx]

I have not contacted the planning dept as yet. Here is an excerpt from the planning portal.

Fences, gates and garden walls
You will need to apply for planning permission if you wish to erect or add to a fence, wall or gate and:
it would be over 1 metre high and next to a highway used by vehicles (or the footpath of such a highway); or over 2 metres high elsewhere; or
your right to put up or alter fences, walls and gates is removed by an article 4 direction or a planning condition; or
your house is a listed building or in the curtilage of a listed building.
the fence, wall or gate, or any other boundary involved, forms a boundary with a neighbouring listed building or its curtilage.

You will not need to apply for planning permission to take down a fence, wall,or gate, or to alter or improve an existing fence, wall or gate (no matter how high) if you don't increase its height. In a conservation area, however, you might need conservation area consent to take down a fence, wall or gate.
You do not need planning permission for hedges as such, though if a planning condition or a covenant restricts planting (for example, on "open plan" estates, or where a driver's sight line could be blocked) you may need planning permission and/or other consent.

This is going to be my point to the planning dept. The fence has been improved and altered but is not materially different from the original. i.e same height and made of wood. hopefuuly the council will see sense and agree to let the fence remain. CYA

 

[dextrous]

Keep us informed of the response.

 

[Thermo]

i bet i know what they will say!

 

[^woody^]

If you have replaced an existing fence, to the same dimensions and position, then it would not require an application.

 

[dextrous]

If you have replaced an existing fence, to the same dimensions and position, then it would not require an application.

Suppose planning will now want proof of the old fence

 

[foxhole]

You could always plant a hedge, its not restricted by planning, mine is approaching 8ft while the dwarf wall I had erected infront of it is only 2ft high to comply.

 

[Nige F]

You could always plant a hedge, its not restricted by planning, mine is approaching 8ft while the dwarf wall I had erected infront of it is only 2ft high to comply.

Then spray it with weedkiller in a message to the council . Someone actually wrote " Liar" on a large conifer hedge next to a road I frequently pass. Took months to grow out. Poetic Justice