Family told new garden fence must be torn down and the reason is baffling

A family has been told to take down a wooden fence that separates their front garden from a main road after their application to keep it was rejected.

Sophie Daly had asked for permission to maintain the fence, which stands at 1.98m at its highest point and is taller than a "dwarf wall", along with a garden gate she claimed improved safety and security for her child and the family's large dog.

She maintained that it offered better protection from noise and pollution caused by the busy A48 near her home in Chepstow, compared to the hedge it replaced, for the detached two-storey property. The fence was put up at the St Lawrence Road home between February and April this year, with Ms Daly submitting a retrospective application in August, WalesOnline reports.

Her application was supported by Paul Pavia, the Conservative councillor for the town's Mount Pleasant ward, Chepstow Town Council, and the only neighbour who responded to Monmouthshire County Council's planning department. However, council planners disagreed, stating that given the "prominent location" at an entrance to the town, the gate and fence "cause unacceptable harm to the visual amenity and open character of the area", leading them to recommend refusal.

Planning officer Philip Thomas highlighted that the property is situated at a "visually prominent entrance to Chepstow". The planning committee members agreed and rejected the application, although three councillors opposed the refusal recommendation and one abstained.

Rachel Buckler, a Conservative councillor for Devauden, recognised the concerns but stated: "I do think it is detrimental and not in keeping and to my mind the hedge was better."

Emma Bryn, an Independent member for Wyesham, voiced her concern that approving the fence could "set a precedent" with "a really negative effect on the environment of Chepstow".

Cllr Pavia reminded the committee that neither the council's highways department nor the Welsh Government, which oversees the A48, had objected, and argued that the fence offered "protection from one of Chepstow's busiest roads".

He further commented: "It is very near the infamous Highbeech roundabout. It is not a rural lane but a noisy, polluted urban corridor."

The committee was also advised to reject the application due to insufficient "appropriate ecological mitigation or compensation" for the removed hedge.

Ms Dally's application proposed providing a bird box and a "bug hotel" in the front garden.