Trw144

Very little left now I m afraid - we ve sold 1400 stoves in around 6 weeks, and just 15 Franco Belge Belforts left. You do still need either an air brick or direct air supply on sub 5kw stoves if the house is above a certain level of air tightness (pretty much any new build and I m sure everyone on this forum). For direct air supply under the slab - like others have said, any circa 100mm soil pipe will suffice and you can then find a means of connecting a 100mm flexible ducting from this onto a stove.

@jsharris I moved in in December and I'm pretty much finished - basically some outside landscaping to be done - turf the lawn and gravel the drive. I'm inclined to leave it for now and when it they ask I'll say the fence is providing security to the site whilst I still have diggers etc undertaking the landscaping, and keep my children safe from the road whilst the hedge establishes. I'll tell them I have'nt decided what to do after this time - whether to take the fence down, reduce its height, or apply for planning permission for it. This will at least give time for my hedge to establish. thoughts?

No, my building has nt been signed off. I don't know the legal situation of what they are saying.

Ok, and now this off the planning enforcement... Dear Mr Webb, Thank you for your email. I am currently working from home following site visits so unable to call you today but will be back in the office on Friday as usual. I have requested a list of native hedgerow planting for you from Conservation. I await their reply. In the meantime I have spoken to Charlotte Atkins who has advised me of the conversation you both had recently regarding the unauthorised fence. Further to my email dated 13.03.17 I can advise that the fence can not be deemed permitted in the future as it has been erected prior to the planting of the hedgerow and therefore it is simply unauthorised. I would be grateful if you could please update me on your intentions with regards to this fence as soon as you are able. Kind regards, Amy

So it rumbles on, I ve just come off the phone to the planning officer for the area (not the enforcement officer). She is saying the fence is unauthorised due to its height and that she (or supposedly the ecologist) does nt think there is sufficient space for a hedge to establish, and that it would grow over the pavement ( I would point out the hedge thickness shown on my plan is 900mm - pretty much the same space as i have allowed). She says I should plant it in staggered rows and would consider approving a new application if I set the fence back further (not something I really wish to pay for)- I ve said I ve planted many hedges before and they grew perfectly well in terms of coverage and height without being planted in staggered rows. Personally, if I plant them close to the hedge, I think they re is plenty of space for them to grow into. So, where do I go from here as I m not sure they will let this lie. Basically, once that hedge hits 5-6ft then I can do whatever I want behind it under permitted development rights - in the meantime I m in breach of planning. My thoughts are to email them on the basis I want a solution (and need to get plants ordered before the end of the month), with two potential options I can see... Plant 30cm whips and put my site security fencing back up until the hedge has grown sufficiently. This ensures my site remains safe from the risk of unauthorised access whilst we finish the soft landscaping, and also keeps my young children safe from the road. (The planning officer did nt like this and suggested I could nt do this as I have now moved in - I would argue that just because I have moved in, does nt mean my site is finished and that I could take a while to finish my soft landscaping). Leave the current fence in situ and plant circa 1m high, more established plants so that it should be to the required height within a shorter time period.

Ferdinand, this is the approach I would like to take - I don't see why I should shell out on expensive tall hedging plants rather than smaller whips. Also, I know of a very similar project close by that had the exactly the same situation - and they planted 1ft high laurels! What is the situation with planning - can they enforce in one situation and not another. Does precedent exist in planning or is it just a case of enforcement if someone complains?

My plan is to do it over the next few weeks - the pavement tarmac is being done with my drive either tomorrow or Wednesday. Is there a definitive list of native hedgerow plants anywhere? Next thing someone will claim my hedge is nt native.

Was going to send this but thought a second opinion would be beneficial in case I end up putting her back up... Hi Amy My intention is to plant the hedge in the coming weeks/months – I can’t actually do it until the pavement/footpath has been fully completed. Obviously the hedge will take time to establish, even if I buy slightly more mature trees. If this does become an issue then the other option is to put back up my site security fencing, along with black screening and delay my build completion until the hedge has grown to the point that you deem the hedge sufficient. Whilst I am sure this is an option neither of us would think beneficial, this would at least allow you to put the matter to bed and appease the Nimby who completes complaining. Kind regards Tom

I know I should do that, but its bugging me that I should have to buy mature plants because some nimby has complained. I thought you had several years for a hedges/trees to grow when I have planting on it? I might ask what they expect in terms of hedging from the outset.

Ok, so email I received from planning enforcement is below.. Thank you for your email. I have spoken to the senior planning officer, Mrs Atkins, this morning and she has advised that at present, as no hedge has been planted – the fence is unauthorised as it is over 1m in height and adjacent to the highway so could no be considered to be permitted development. I understand that you intend to plant a hedge as per the approved plans which you have stated will be sited in front of the fence. Until the hedgerow is planted the fence will be considered to be unauthorised. It will be interesting to note how mature the hedgerow you plant will be as it is possible that the fence may still be the dominant boundary treatment and therefore I am not able to say at this time whether the fence will be permitted development once the hedgerow is in place. Please can you advise when you intend to carry out the hedgerow planting so that this case can be monitored? What do you think my response should be - ultimately I have nt completed my build yet so I dont see the issue that the hedge has nt yet been planted. My heras fencing that in place beforehand was just as high and that was nt considered unauthorised. Ultimately I don't want to piss the planners off, but I m not going to roll over for them. I could tell them the other option if they would prefer would be to take down my fence if it is unauthorised and put back the heras fencing for next few years until the hedge has grown (although this would backfire if they said yes).

Reminds me of a few weeks back when I came home from work to find my three year old whizzing round the house on his scooter with his new friend, a great crested newt, sat perched on his handle bars. Would that classify as moving it to safety?

That might suit - I like my fence, but I need a hedge for planning purposes.

Very useful given my imminent need for a hedge in front of my fence. Question, I m looking for a suitable hedging plant - personally I like laurel as its modern looking and evergreen, however given my recent issues I m a little worried about planting a laurel hedge as someone may complain its not a native hedge as per the planning approval (my argument is that laurel has been in the UK since the 1600's and you would nt call a person who's family have lived in the UK since then an immigrant). Anyhow, is there a definitive list of what classifies as a "native hedge" plant, and does anyone have any recommendations for something evergreen?

Hold fire, I want the confirmation letter before you send your no win no fee bill through.

Latest update - just spoke to the enforcement officer. Basically she said that, provided I plant a hedge, then the fence is not classed as adjacent to the road and therefore within my permitted development rights. I've checked and my planning does nt say anything about permitted development rights being removed so, fingers crossed, I am ok - she would'nt actually tell me for definite on the phone and wanted to run it my the planning officer for the area.

So when Scotland devolve and we have to build a wall adjacent to the A74, who's rules are we going to follow? Or should we keep it simple and make it a hedge?

Enforcement officer is back in tomorrow so will update accordingly....

Trying to find the answer to this - cannot find an exact answer online. Some suggest when it is lived in, others that it has to be finished.

I ll say it's a temporary fence - until my children are 16!

That gap is longer than an arm so you would have to trespass!

Here s a pic..

Just found this on the planning resource website... Is a two foot gap between a 2m high fence/gate and the back of the public footpath sufficient to be held not to be "adjacent" to the public highway? The point here is that if not deemed to be "adjacent" to a public highway this fence would be permitted development by virtue of Part 2 of the General Permitted Development Order 1995. This question has arisen at appeal several times and Development Control Practice at (12.31) contains a number of relevant case summaries. The thrust of these decisions is that a wall or fence may be sited back from the edge of a highway and still be "adjacent" to it provided that the function of the enclosure is clearly to define the boundary of the property concerned from the highway. As each situation is different there is no common standard for setback distance that may be deduced from cases. An appeal decision from Tunbridge Wells determined last month is of interest as here an inspector concluded that an enclosure which lay 1.7m behind a footway was not adjacent to it. The situation here was that there was a substantial bed containing young trees and shrubs in front of the fence in dispute. The inspector felt that this bed was a feature of some substance in its own right separating the fence from the footway. In addition the inspector averred that the distance which separated the fence from a person standing on the footway was such that the person could not touch the fence without entering the land belonging to the property. This he argued meant that there was no sense of "immediacy or proximity" of the fence. Going from the above, as I see it, in my case, the boundary of the property from the highway (and legally in terms of my plot) is the hedge that will be planted, and therefore the fence is not "adjacent/next to" the highway and therefore falls under permitted development.

Yep, I suspect it was the same person who complained that I was damaging an oak tree by stacking soil up against it - there was nt any soil within 5m of it, and then the same person who complained that my house had a silver finish and did nt look very nice - its what you and I know as the vapour barrier on a timber frame before its rendered/clad. I m hopeful that when I say a hedge is going to be planted then they will just say fine

Thanks Ferdinand, yes I think the grey area is what the term "next to a highway means". From the road in-front of the property, I have a 1.1m wide pavement (just installed), around 800mm for the hedge to be planted, and then my fence. At the end of the day, the hedge will eventually grow above the fence so it does nt really make any difference.

Before I call the planning enforcement officer, can anyone tell me what the legal situation is... The planning permission on our plot shows a hedgerow fronting the road that passes by, and it our intention to plant a hedgerow on this boundary. However, inside of this boundary, we have already erected a 6ft fence to give us privacy whilst the hedge grows, and ensure our two young children (3 and 5) are kept safely back from the road. Because of this, it would appear that someone has contacted the local planning enforcement officer to say that we are in breach of the planning as we have a fence, not a hedge. My belief, rightly or wrongly, was that, provided I planted a hedge on the actual boundary of the property, then if I decided to lose a bit of garden and erect a fence on the inside of my boundary, then I am entitled to do this. Once the hedge has grown, no one will see my fence anyway. Does anyone have any experience or knowledge of this area?