Balcony privacy screens

[Michael D]

Hello all (1st post) im looking at having a rear wrought iron balcony fitted & have a few queries, wondered if anyone can help ? 

 

1. privacy screens - most are seen as toughened glass, but i feel on my the building it would look too modern, so would a laser cut steel panel with maybe small cut outs similar to the fronts or radiator covers be suitable or a hand build leaf collage effect , -  but of course these would not be 100% opaque like frosted glass - so is there a rule of percentage opacity the the privacy screen?  or is their some tolerance ?
2. again with balconies in mind - timber/combustible material on my domestic property (below 18 mtr)  - i thought i read somewhere it has to be a distance away from any boundary - im again thinking of alternative screens & flooring ideas - (area of balcony would be 3m wide 2m projection - 2.3m to platform height)

 

Ive tried the net without much success & my local planning  dept apparently have suspended pre app advice for the foreseeable future for some reason, so any help would be much appreciated - cheers MD