Front fence and enforcement notice

[henry1]

I have a front fence over 1m in height without pp. An enforcement notice was served, I appealed and lost.
The notice requires the whole fence all around the house to be removed, not just the one adjacent to the highway and higher than 1m.
Is this normal procedure to require the whole lot removed rather than just the part that breached pp?
This now means it will never be possible to have any fence whatsoever in front of the property.

The Town & Country Planning Act doesn't say anywhere that you're not allowed any fence at all. Is the council even allowed to make such a request - removing everything?

 

[blup]

If the fence is above 1 metre the whole development is unauthorised even if 1 metre would be pd. I guess the council convinced the inspector this applied to a situation where the 1 metre fence was unauthorised and anything that formed part of the overall development i.e. the bit that was stand alone permitted. You should have appealed on the basis of over enforcement.

Blup

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Normally the rule allows 2m except where along side a road, including any trellis. The rule does not include plants trees and hedges, so you could replace the fence by the road with a hedge.

 

[henry1]

If the fence is above 1 metre the whole development is unauthorised even if 1 metre would be pd. I guess the council convinced the inspector this applied to a situation where the 1 metre fence was unauthorised and anything that formed part of the overall development i.e. the bit that was stand alone permitted. You should have appealed on the basis of over enforcement.

Blup

That makes a lot more sense now. What a vindictive lot though. All they could have asked was for the front fence to be lowered; instead they want the whole thing gone and will decline future planning applications.
I appealed on the basis that no pp was needed since there are many neighbours with high fences. This was not even taken into consideration.

 

[big-all]

have you checked if theres a covenant [a restriction] restricting what you can do as in no fences or small chain link etc
if its an estate or development what have other houses put up ??

 

[jacko555]

This now means it will never be possible to have any fence whatsoever in front of the property

Can you not remove at the front, take/send photos and get confirmation enforcement notice has been satisfied?

Once this is agreed, put up the permitted 1m fence?

Yes taking it all down is expensive, and a waste and vindictive of them, but still, permitted development is permitted...

Part of me wonders (no basis for this) is if you kept the lot, and, reduced the fence height facing the highway to 1m / permitted, if they'd go through with enforcement?

 

[henry1]

I first misunderstood the enforcement notice and thought only the front fence had to be lowered to 1m, which I did.
After the deadline came, the council inspected and pointed out that the whole fence has to be removed.
So no, the enforcement notice won't be satisfied until everything has been brought down.
What's really annoying is that I cannot apply for planning for another fence, so I'm stuck with no fence whatsoever forever.

 

[garyo]

Can you apply for a permitted development lawful development certificate for the remainder of the fence and then see how confused they get? How could they say no?

 

[thomp1983]

Reduce the front fence to 1m and leave it at that, I'd find it very unlikely they'll get a court order to make you take something down that is permitted development (judges and magistrates tend to be quite sensible) but if you do eventually get a court summons you have upto the day of the summons to remove it all completely.

Alongside that for the council to get it to court they need to meet their criteria and it be in the publics interest.

All of the above won't stop them sending you several threatening letters saying they'll take you to court to bully you into doing what they want.

 

[jacko555]

What's really annoying is that I cannot apply for planning for another fence, so I'm stuck with no fence whatsoever forever

I think that's wrong. A 1m fence is permitted, they cannot stop it.
Granted, the 2m one you built was not permitted and planning has the right to request the entire thing is removed, not just reduce the height.

However once you either call their bluff and leave it as is at 1m high or, remove it all to satisfy the enforcement, you can still have a *permitted* 1m fence.

However I agree with thomp1983

I'd find it very unlikely they'll get a court order to make you take something down that is permitted development (judges and magistrates tend to be quite sensible)

Alongside that for the council to get it to court they need to meet their criteria and it be in the publics interest.

All of the above won't stop them sending you several threatening letters saying they'll take you to court to bully you into doing what they want.

I would call their bluff as what you now have is considered permitted.

Worst case is it all comes down. Then put it back, max 1m at the highway and 2m elsewhere

 

[henry1]

I'm loving the responses on here.
I would love to call their bluff and have my day in court. However, the financial risks may just be too great for what is just a fence after all. There's no telling how the judge will rule - the enforcement notice clearly stipulated to remove the whole fence.
I may end up with a fine + my court fees + council's court fees. All this for a fence? The appeal inspector for a start didn't rule the way I expected.

Even if I bring down the fence on the day of the summons, wouldn't there be any court fees along the way?
If I do end up calling their bluff and make the council lose face, they'll likely make my life difficult in some other way. They even sent me a letter before the deadline saying that my fence was still there and the enforcement notice must be complied with in full before XX date.
However, it does make sense now that I can put up a 1m fence after all this has settled down.

 

[thomp1983]

If you removed the fence the day before the summons and informed the council there would be no costs, the council have no power to issue fines for planning breaches.

Stand your ground and wait it out, you've nothing to lose

 

[henry1]

I could hold out till the last day but this doesn't really help me.
I can't see the council not taking this to court - they have nothing to lose themselves and everything to gain by going to court. It's not like they'll be paying out of their own pocket for any costs.

 

[jacko555]

I can't see the council not taking this to court - they have nothing to lose themselves and everything to gain by going to court

If you look at the government guidelines for whether to enforce:

Who can take enforcement action?
Local planning authorities have responsibility for taking whatever enforcement action may be necessary, in the public interest

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/ensuring-effective-enforcement

Note the "in the public interest" bit. If what you now have would be classed as permitted, where's the public interest?

Then, consider your human rights:

The provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights such as Article 1 of the First Protocol, Article 8 and Article 14 are relevant when considering enforcement action. There is a clear public interest in enforcing planning law and planning regulation in a proportionate way. In deciding whether enforcement action is taken, local planning authorities should, where relevant, have regard to the potential impact on the health, housing needs and welfare of those affected by the proposed action, and those who are affected by a breach of planning control

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/ensuring-effective-enforcement

Again, public interest and proportionate.

They may send many strongly worded threatening letters.

I'd wait for a court date to be booked before doing anything. Nothing to loose.

 

[ETAF]

I may have misunderstood
but
What do the house deeds/land registry say,
i have lived in house where you were not allowed to have anything at the front , no hedge no fence had to be open plan. The whole estate built in the 70's had just lawn and pavement at the frontage
A friend has just moved into a house with exactly the same restrictions , even though some neighbours have very small picket fence, they actually should be taken down.

In my current house 1932 , we are not allowed to have sheds or any wooden structure on the properties or keep pigs.

Not sure who enforces that , maybe the council, could that be why you have to take the fence down completely