I’ve been told to demolish my new fence by jobsworth council even though it’s ‘same height as my old rotten one’
A HOMEOWNER has been left fuming after her local council ordered her to tear down her new fence, despite her claims it’s the same height as her old one.
Lianne Garnett slammed the decision as “ridiculous” but officials insist that she broke planning rules.
Lianne moved into her current home in Newport, Wales after the original fence was put up in 2016 by the previous owner.
She replaced a part of it, which she claimed was “rotting”, in 2019 with a composite fence that covered a few meters.
The new fence, according to Lianne, is also the same height as the one it replaced.
However, a few months ago she received a notice from her local authority telling her to remove the fence as she didn’t have planning permission to put it up.
Lianne told Wales Online: “That [the old part of the fence] was up more than four years ago now, so everything up to here is okay.
“All we’ve done is take the rotting fence down and replace it.
“There is no difference in height, but we’ve been told it needs to come down. It’s ridiculous.”
She added that it will leave her without proper privacy in her garden.
Lianne’s is one of a number of disputes over fences in the area.
Councillor Allan Morris backed residents, saying: “The fences don’t look bad. If someone had made a fence out of crates you could understand.
“If people had been complaining to us we’d understand it, but we’ve not had anyone come to us. It doesn’t make sense.
“I would rather see people prosecuted for anti-social behaviour and fly-tipping… than see people prosecuted for the height of their fences.”
However, a Newport City Council spokesperson said: “Newport City Council is legally obliged to investigate complaints in relation to breaches of planning regulations and, if necessary, take action including the serving of enforcement notices.
“Enforcement notices were served on two properties in the Lliswerry area after complaints about unauthorised fences were received. The council then received a large number of complaints about differing types of means of enclosures for the boundaries of properties in the area.
“Each was investigated but only four were found to be in breach of planning legislation.
“Formal enforcement action is a last resort when negotiations have failed to resolve the breach of planning control. There is an independent appeal process for people who wish to challenge the notice or an application that has been refused.
“Court action is only taken if remedial action is not undertaken by the property owner and the council would be able to recover its costs.”
Fence disputes
Fence disputes can be tricky and planning rules are not always obvious.
Chun Wong, head of the dispute resolution team at Hodge Jones and Allen solicitors, gave out top tips for how to handle such conflicts.
The expert recommended checking the boundary lines on plans from the Land Registry and trying a mediation service if your dispute is with a neighbour.
If you receive an enforcement notice from a council, you can go through the independent appeals process – thought this can be costly.
