Appeal 3315157

The appeal is dismissed.

In the summary heading above I use the Council’s description of development as it is appreciably more concise than the application form. I address the points raised in the Appellant’s description below.

The development has been constructed; this does not alter the way in which I assess the merits of the appeal.

The main issue is the effect of the proposal on the character and appearance of the locality.

The appeal property is a semi-detached bungalow on part of a large residential estate with extensive areas of broadly similar properties. Most homes and appreciable stretches of street have an ‘open plan’ frontage. In this instance there are two storey properties opposite which have enclosed rear gardens running towards the road. The character of the area is established and generally consistent and the buildings, gardens and roads come together to form a locality of pleasing appearance. The appeal proposal is for a fence comprising, from the Appellant’s description, concrete posts (95cm high) and wooden fence panels (6 x 180cm x 90cm) and metal gate (90x90cm).

The Appellant explains how the fence was built in 2019 from an understanding that planning permission was not needed and only after a delayed complaint did the planning authority get involved. The reasons for the fence were to protect 2 children from the bus route open road, and remove issues with dogs and their mess not being cleaned up.

I do sympathise with the Appellant’s experiences and sentiments but I find that there is no getting away from the opinion I have reached that the fencing looks alien and ill-at-ease on this side of this stretch of road. This property was clearly part of the overall open plan estate concept, to which the vast majority of homes have adhered, and the fence looks a dominant interruption to that scene and to wider character. The projection and structure is accentuated by the even ground, the lack of any symmetry with next door or beyond, colouring, the very limited local vegetation, and the immediate footway arrangement and road alignment.

In the circumstances to my mind the proposal is jarring on the eye and harmful to the visual merits of the scene, in character and appearance terms. I know the decision will be disappointing not least because time, effort and finance has been spent erecting this fence. However, I do have to be fair and even handed and if I was dealing with a proposal for this nature of scheme which had not been erected, I would have dismissed the appeal.

Policy D DM1 of the Arun Local Plan is relevant. Amongst other matters, it seeks to ensure that development is of high-quality design with suitable materials, scale and siting to be sympathetic to the character of a site and its surroundings and to deliver landscape with an appearance which reflects the local area. I conclude that the proposal would run contrary to this policy. It would also conflict with the pertinent aesthetic objectives of the [name] and the Aldwick Parish Design Statement, albeit neither of these documents could be expected to cover every eventuality.