One family over the border have been told to tear down a timber fence separating their front garden from a main road.
UK households face having to tear down timber garden fences after ruling
UK households face being ordered to tear down front garden fences after a ruling in Wales. One family over the border have been told to tear down a timber fence separating their front garden from a main road.
Sophie Daly wanted permission to keep the fence to “enhance safety and security” for her child and the family’s large breed dog. The fence was erected at the St Lawrence Road home between February and April this year, with Ms Daly submitting a retrospective application in August.
Her application received backing from Paul Pavia, the Conservative Party councillor for the town’s Mount Pleasant ward, Chepstow Town Council, and the sole neighbour who responded to Monmouthshire County Council’s planning department.
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But the local authority ruled it was a “prominent location” at an entrance to the town, so the gate and fence “cause unacceptable harm to the visual amenity and open character of the area”.
Planning officer Philip Thomas noted the property sits at a “visually prominent entrance to Chepstow”. Rachel Buckler, a Conservative councillor for Devauden, said: “I do think it is detrimental and not in keeping and to my mind the hedge was better.”
Emma Bryn, an Independent member for Wyesham, warned the fence could “set a precedent” with “a really negative effect on the environment of Chepstow”.
Neither the council’s highways department nor the Welsh Government, which oversees the A48, had objected. It was also reported by Wales Online, Birmingham Live’s sister title, that the fence had much support locally.
Cllr Pavia argued that the fence offered “protection from one of Chepstow’s busiest roads”.
He added: “It is very near the infamous Highbeech roundabout. It is not a rural lane but a noisy, polluted urban corridor.”
The committee was also advised to reject the application due to insufficient “appropriate ecological mitigation or compensation”.
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