Appeal 3375443

The appeal is dismissed.

The main issues are: • the effect of the proposal on the character and appearance of the street scene; and • whether the proposal would adversely affect the safety of road users.

The proposal is for a 1.8 m high structure along the front and a short section of the side boundary of No 7, a detached property on the eastern side of [address]. The structure would comprise the existing low brick wall with concrete block piers at intervals, both rendered and painted white to match the house, with close set black metal railings between the piers.

The front elevation of the house is set back just 2.4 m from the property boundary with a pedestrian footway running immediately in front. This is unusually close for this particular road, and the wall/railings would benefit the appellant by improving the level of privacy in the front rooms. However, the property seems to have had an open frontage to the road since it was first built and blinds were used in June 2023 as a suitable alternative1.

[address], together with its offshoots [name], Thistledown and Hillridge, are designed as an open plan estate with low front boundary treatments, frequently low walls, sometimes supplemented by a hedge, and often no front boundary enclosure at all. The exception is where screening is necessary for private rear gardens on corner plots, when there are higher brick walls. The 1 Streetview image examples given by the appellant show such cases and one on [address], a busier distributor road rather than a cul-de-sac.

The overall soft, landscaped, open plan nature of the [address] estate forms an important part of its attractive residential environment. The wall/railings would detract from this, substituting a hard front boundary feature that would unnecessarily erode the generally harmonious design character of the area.

For these reasons the proposal would significantly harm the existing character and appearance of the street scene in conflict with Policies SP7 of the [name] Section 1 Plan 2021 and Policies DM13 and DM15 of the Colchester Borough Local Plan 2022. These require high standards of urban design that preserves the quality of existing places, ensures no adverse impact on the appearance of the street scene/character of the area and requires respect for the context of the site.

The proposed 1.8 m high wall/railings would extend hard up to the boundary of the adjacent property, 1 [name], close to its driveway. This would restrict the visibility of passing pedestrians and perhaps cyclists when reversing a vehicle out of the driveway, adversely affecting the safety of those road users. Visibility would also be restricted when reversing a vehicle out of the driveway of No 7. Increasing highway safety risks in this way would conflict with Policy DM21 of the Colchester Borough Local Plan which seeks to minimise conflicts between traffic, cyclists and pedestrians.

Whilst the proposal would have some benefits for the appellant, these benefits are outweighed by the harm that would be caused to the character and appearance of the area and the increased risks to passing road users.

The appeal should therefore be dismissed.