Dorset couple in £3k battle with council over ‘ugly’ fence at luxury home
A couple in an affluent Dorset suburb are facing a council decision to dismantle their 2.5m garden fence, which officials have described as ugly and “out of character” for the prestigious neighbourhood.
Paul and Lisa Toomer, residents of a £1.15 million property near Poole’s exclusive Parkstone Golf Club, erected the two-metre wooden barrier five years after buying their home.
Their decision was motivated by a desire for privacy following an increase in burglary attempts in the area and the construction of a new house directly overlooking their garden.
The Toomers believed they were working within the rules of permissible development. However, the Toomers were later informed by local council officials that the height of the fences surrounding the motorway was limited to one meter (3.2 ft) and were instructed to apply for retrospective planning permission.
Although the council complied with the directive and received no public objection, it ultimately rejected their application.
The couple were told the wooden structure was “out of character” for the area as other houses depended on “dense tree cover” to form the rear boundary of their property.
The decision leaves the couple facing the possibility of tearing down their fence.
BCP Council planning officer said: “Hedges along this street are clearly visible and appear prominent due to the height, use of materials and colour, dominating quite well against the background of trees.
“There are no other examples of similar fencing in this part of the street scene and therefore the proposal is visually dominant and does not reflect the character of an area where hard landscaping is limited.”
They said this was “materially detrimental to the character and appearance of the street scene”.
The Toomers appealed but lost that too.
They have since been served with enforcement notices, which they have also appealed.
If these are approved, they would have to remove the fences entirely or reduce them to one metre, which they say would be pointless and would not provide privacy or security.
They say they have already spent nearly £3,000 fighting the council’s “witch hunt”.
Ms Toomer, 51, said: “The first thing we became aware of was the problem when we were on holiday and spoke to a man from the council via our doorbell.
“This is a normal wooden fence, just under two metres.
“But since it was on the highway border, they said that it was not within the scope of permitted development and that we needed to get retroactive planning permission.
“So we applied but they said the photos weren’t enough even though they were already there, they needed proper architectural drawings with scales and measurements so they had to pay someone a few hundred pounds to do it and then they said it would probably be rejected.
“It’s just a normal garden fence but they said it wasn’t suitable for that, it was ugly, it was completely out of character.
“Our application was rejected but before we had a chance to submit our objection, a man from the municipality came to visit us and gave us both enforcement notices, which is complete nonsense.
“This is not a well-used busy highway, it’s a dead-end road. The only people who will be affected are the handful of people who live there.”
Scuba diving instructor Mr Toomer, 60, added: “Their argument is that because it borders the motorway it should not be higher than one meter high, but when you look around it is over one meter high and there are many fences bordering the motorway.
“It’s funny because the council puts them up everywhere and all the municipal fences look exactly the same as ours.
“Everything we did made the house better. I was going to paint the fence and put vines and plants on it so it would be more hidden and camouflaged, but if I had to tear it down I wouldn’t spend any more money.
“So it had been left like that for a year. But first there was the ugly, gnarled bush. It was a messy wilderness, and the remnants of the wire fence looked terrible.”
“We employed our tree surgeons and they removed everything that was dead with the correct planning permissions from the council.
“The house being built behind us now looked directly onto our property.
“All I want is privacy and security. There have been several burglary attempts in the area. I want to protect my wife and son.”
A date has not yet been set for the appeal decision.
