A retired couple found themselves compelled to dismantle a £4,500, seven-foot tall privacy fence after neighbors complained it disrupted the neighborhood’s aesthetic.
David and Denise Hopwood installed the 25-meter long grey fence to replace a nine-foot tall hedge, which had become increasingly challenging and costly to maintain due to their advancing age and health issues.
Complaints from a neighbor regarding the fence’s height led to the couple needing retroactive planning approval last year.
Residing in Farnworth, Bolton, Greater Manchester, the couple saw their application denied by Bolton Council. The council argued that the fence did not complement the neighborhood’s character and appearance.
In their defense, the retirees argued that maintaining the hedge cost them £800 annually. They claimed that the fence, featuring a one-foot tall trellis and gravel boards, had significantly enhanced their quality of life.
Despite their appeal, the council stood by its decision, instructing the couple to remove the fence after a site inspection last month.
It cited several reasons, including its location, materials, colour and size, saying it ‘appears a discordant and strident feature in the street scene’.
Mr Hopwood, 67, said he and his wife, 66, both suffer from arthritis and the hedge has become ‘out of control’, leaving them unable to look after it and prompting them to install the fence.
David and Denise Hopwood have been forced to tear down a £4,500 seven-foot tall fence they built for privacy after neighbours complained that it was intrusive on the neighbourhood’s ‘character’
Mr Hopwood said it would be ‘terrible’ if they had to pull down the fence, adding the ‘whole ordeal has been very stressful’
He said: ‘We put it up for privacy and security, while it is ideal for maintenance purposes.
‘I feel we have been hard done by the claims saying it doesn’t fit with the street scene, there isn’t one size that fits all here.’
Mr Hopwood added the street already has a ‘right mix’ of different fences on the street, saying ‘there is a jet black one across the road, a number of brick ones, I feel like we have been picked on’.
He said: ‘The colour is our choice, I don’t understand why it is an issue.’
The couple said they have now been forced to resort to pegging blankets on the washing line to stop passers-by looking into their home while they plan a replacement.
Their home, which is on the corner of Plodder Lane and Duchy Avenue, sits opposite open fields and countryside, contributing to what the council described as a ‘semi-rural character’.
Their neighbour’s home is notably also surrounded by a dark coloured fence.
The council said homes along the road are typically characterised by relatively open frontages with low walls, timber fencing or railings – and often have hedges.
The couple were refused permission by Bolton Council, which claimed the fence did not align with the ‘character and appearance of the surrounding area’
The couple’s 25-metre long grey fence replaced a nine-foot high hedge which had become difficult and expensive to maintain due to their age and disabilities
The report said the 2.1-metre high black fence is ‘very prominent’ on the street.
Despite being topped with a decorative trellis, it was said to fully enclose the front of the house and appear ‘at odds with the open frontages, low walls and hedgerows of the dwellings opposite’.
The report added the black composite panels created a ‘starkly contrast’ with the red brick house and adjoining lower wall, describing the structure as a ‘discordant and strident feature in the street scene’.
It concluded there was little evidence to support the argument that the ‘height and materiality of the fence is necessary to achieve the security and privacy’, having considered the personal circumstances of the couple.
The council noted there was ‘insufficient evidence’ to suggest that a ‘safe and private environment’ of the home ‘could not be achieved in a manner which causes less harm to the character and appearance of the area’.
The couple are yet to receive an enforcement notice, but if they were forced to pull it down, they said it would be ‘terrible’ – and added the ‘whole ordeal has been very stressful’
Mr Hopwood said: ‘The appeal is the end of the line, an enforcement notice is usually the next course of action.
‘Hopefully they will just order us to change the colour and not replace it with something else’.
Bolton Council have been contacted for comment.
