In case you missed it – Architect erects 6ft 5 inch fence around front garden to protect children, only to be told he must tear it down.

Andy Martin, a North London based architect has been ordered to tear down a 6ft 5 inch fence he had erected around the front garden of his property without planning permission and which led to one neighbour describing the house as a ‘little prison’.

Mr Martin has worked for many famous faces, including rock star Noel Gallagher and a number of fashionable restaurants, but his latest project has not gone down well with his neighbours or the local council, who have ordered him to tear it down after rejecting his application for retrospective planning permission.

Asked why he had the fence built, Mr Martin explains:

‘We had some problems with someone being chased into our house late at night, and it’s put my young children in a situation where they are quite nervous now…It’s really helped for them. It gives us a lot more security” 

As well as supposedly increasing security, Mr Martin believes the fence is a thing of beauty and that if more neighbours followed his lead, the area would be improved. He says:

“In my opinion that street is a little bit of a disaster…It feels like a car park – people pour concrete in their front yards. It’s not a great example of streetscape.”  

His neighbours, perhaps unsurprisingly, disagree, with one describing it “like a little prison not, a house”

Dilip Hirani, another outraged neighbour describes the barricade as an ‘eyesore’ and goes on to explain:

“I don’t know what they are protecting….They must be running around naked or something.”

It’s not only the neighbours that disapprove and Brent Council, who rejected the retrospective application in which Mr Martin had described the fence as ‘modest’ and ‘a neat design’ which ‘improves the front forecourt area’ described it as having a ‘significantly unacceptable visual impact’ 

This is only the latest of many fence related planning issues – we reported on one back in October’s edition which you can read here.

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It is always important to check whether planning permission is required before beginning a project and your Local Chartered Surveyor would be pleased to give you no obligations advice. Find your local chartered surveyor at:

BT                                               www.propertysurveying.co.uk                                          10.12.14