A family across the border has been told to tear down a wooden fence that separates their front yard from a main road.
British households face being ordered to tear down front garden fences following a ruling in Wales. A family across the border has been told to tear down a wooden fence that separates their front yard from a main road.
Sophie Daly wanted permission to keep the fence to “increase security” for her child and the family’s large 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.
Their application was supported by Paul Pavia, the Conservative Party councilor for the city's Mount Pleasant ward, Chepstow Town Council and the only neighbor who responded to Monmouthshire County Council's planning department.
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However, the local authority decided that it was a “prominent location” at the entrance to the town, so the gate and fence “unacceptably detract from the visual amenity and open character of the area”.
Planning officer Philip Thomas noted the property is located at a “visually striking entrance to Chepstow”. Rachel Buckler, a Conservative councilor for Devauden, said: “I think it's damaging and out of line and I think the safeguarding was better.”
Emma Bryn, an independent member for Wyesham, warned the fence could “set a precedent” with “really negative impacts on Chepstow’s environment”.
Neither the council's highways department nor the Welsh government, which oversees the A48, had objected. Wales Online, Birmingham Live's sister title, also reported that there was strong local support for the fence.
Cllr Pavia argued that the fence provided “protection from one of Chepstow’s busiest streets”.
He added: “It's very close to the infamous Highbeech roundabout. It's not a country road but a noisy, polluted urban corridor.”
The committee was also recommended to reject the application due to insufficient “appropriate environmental mitigation or compensation.”