I live out in the sticks and our road has no pavements or drains in it. My front garden runs right up to the tarmac.

Last year we were flooded,so this year I have had a dwarf wall ( 45omm high) built along the front of the house and round to the drive. It is set back 450mm from the edge of the road.

My neighbor,who alleges to know everything about everything maintains that the local authorities own the first 1m of the front gardens and I should have planning permission for the wall.

Does any member on here with either local authority or legal background know what is correct. I can only see on the LA website a requirement for planning if the wall was going to be over 1m high


Thanks in advance

it depends what is on your title deeds with reference to boundaries/land owned, etc

your local authority may have a local planning stipulation re this 1M from the road.

I would check your title deeds first before approaching the local authority.

Iain

it might something that is mentioned in your deeds

I know from looking in to a new garage, that there is restrictions on height if building a certain height with 1m of your boudary Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

Was there any existing boundary feature?

During my research into a dispute I was having with a neighbour over a hedge I did a lot of Google searching. One site I found implied that boundaries with public highways generally are considered to be wherever the nearest boundary feature lies. If one doesn't exist then I'm not sure what the position is.

I also have heard this 1m rule, but not sure when/where it applies.

something else to consider

the walls built, the cost will be similar now or in X months/years IF the highways dept have something to say about it to have it altered.

Maybe just let be and see

or is there recourse against the builder, who should have known better of building regs  Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

Planning and Building Regs, are different items.

only problem I could see is that for instance if a car hits the wall and someone is injured, and you have contravened planning regulations, then you could be sued by the injured party. ( as the wall should not have been there )

this may or may not be covered by your third party liability section in your buildings insurance.

is it a busy road ?

Iain

Any wall or fence built to the front of a property that exceeds 1m in height requires planning permission.
As your wall is less than 1m high it doesn't require planning permission.
However, where you have built the wall may or may not be on your property.
First call is to get a copy of your Title Deeds and Title Plans from the Land Registry which can be obtained on-line for a few pounds search fee. This assumes your property is Registered.
The Plans should hopefully indicate the line and position of your front boundary. Depending on what they show it might then be worth having an informal chat with your Highways Authority.
There is a distinct possibility your neighbour may correct but not necessarily so.
Was there a fence of any description previously in the position the wall now occupies?

Last edited by nicedayforit on 16th Dec 2014 5:05 pm. Edited 1 time in total

Not a busy road. It's a tarmac lane.

I had a basil tree at the boundary with the road,that had to be trimmed flat on the side of the road. Basil tree went as part of the work

The 1m rule applies if the wall or fence is to exceed 1m high. Mine is only 450mm high. Local planning office no longer has,due to cuts,a duty planning officer,so only a clerk who directs you to a website.

Not sure why,if someone drives onto my garden and hits my wall that I am liable - it is after all my garden and not a tarmac road!

If you say your garden runs up to the Tarmac road how do you know this is all your garden? May sound a daft question but are there any ditches, features within 'your garden' that might deliniate the road from your garden? Normally there is a ditch between the road and either a hedge, field or garden, the highway normally only goes up to the ditch, if you have such a feature and are within this then you should be ok. The only other things to consider are, is your property listed and/or are you in a conservation area or if there are any restrictive covenants, but like has been suggested, your deeds will tell you if there are any covenants/restrictions.

A wall or fence does not require an application for planning permission if it is up to 2 metres high, but if it is adjacent to a highway used by vehicular traffic it can only be up to 1 metre high before it needs an application. The confusion is around where the highway boundary lies and whether the fence is 'adjacent' to it. The highway boundary is not just the tarmac road, but includes the grass verge up to the boundary of your property. As others have suggested, check your title deeds to establish this. Some planning authorities interpret adjacent as meaning a meter back, and would therefore not require an application for a 1 m high wall 1 m back, rising to 2 m high 2 m back, but that is only a rule of thumb. Best to check with your local planning dept if you are unsure. (PS - I'm a local authority planner but don't normally admit it!) Jonathan

I would check your deeds and with land registry as LAs can be a bit tricky to navigate. I don't think planning will be an issue unless you are listed, live in a conservation area or area of outstanding natural beauty. In rural areas the highway boundary usually ends at the verge line as the ditch was historically created by the land owner and therefore if you have a ditch and you are inside that, then you should be ok. But worth checking, good luck.

Not listed and only watercourse is on the other side of the road. Will do a land registry search on boundary line.

Pics showing before and present = the before was like it for 20 years! - Nobody ran into the bay tree or the belfast sinks!

Last edited by Charliecloud on 17th Dec 2014 6:19 pm. Edited 1 time in total

Definitely one for land registry or deeds. Let us know how you get on.

Right

Last edited by Legoman on 3rd Jan 2015 4:05 am. Edited 1 time in total