Sophie Daly from Chepstow had sought permission to keep the fence, along with a garden gate to enhance safety and security’ for her child and the family’s large breed dog
A Welsh family has been ordered to dismantle a timber fence around their home after their planning application was rejected. Sophie Daly, a mother from Chepstow, had sought approval to retain the fence, which at its highest point stands 1.98m tall, exceeding the height of a “dwarf wall”, along with a garden gate she claimed improved “enhancing safety and security” for her child and the family’s large dog.
She argued that the fence offered shielding from the noise and pollution emanating from the bustling A48 near her home, compared to the hedge it replaced, for the detached two-storey property.
The fence was constructed at the St Lawrence Road residence between February and April this year, with Ms Daly lodging a retrospective application in August.
Her application garnered support from Paul Pavia, the Conservative councillor for Chepstow’s Mount Pleasant ward, Chepstow Town Council, and the only neighbour who responded to Monmouthshire County Council’s planning department, who described themselves as a resident who “they enjoy seeing the new well-kept addition” and labelled the fence “modern but respectable”, reports Wales Online.
However, council planners held a different opinion, claiming that due to the “prominent location” at an entrance to the town, the gate and fence “cause unacceptable harm to the visual amenity and open character of the area”, leading them to recommend refusal.
Planning officer Philip Thomas observed that the property is positioned at a “visually prominent entrance to Chepstow”.
The planning committee members agreed and rejected the application, though three councillors were against the refusal recommendation whilst one abstained.
Rachel Buckler, a Conservative councillor for Devauden, recognised the concerns that had been raised but stated: “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, voiced her concern that giving the fence the green light could “set a precedent” with “a really negative effect on the environment of Chepstow”.
Cllr Pavia reminded the committee that neither the council’s highways department nor the Welsh Government, which oversees the A48, had raised objections, and contended that the fence provided “protection from one of Chepstow’s busiest roads”.
He continued: “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 turn down the application due to inadequate “appropriate ecological mitigation or compensation” for the removed hedge.
Ms Dally’s application had suggested installing a bird box and a “bug hotel” in the front garden.
#Family #ordered #tear #front #garden #fence #planning #row
