A man separated his house from the road with a fence, but the authorities ordered it to be demolished (4 photos)

Mark Roberts from Gelliger (Wales, UK) two years ago, he built a stone fence 1.8 m high in front of his house. He paid over £5,000 for it and claims that he needs the wall for protection, privacy and security. But the local council thinks otherwise.





For two years, Roberts has been suing the local council, which demands that he demolish the stone wall. The main claim is that she is too tall.



Inspectors visited Roberts; they said that on erecting permanent structures above one meter, the homeowner must get permission from the local council. However, the man claims didn't know about this rule when I built the wall in 2020.

I was really shocked because the wall was already up for some time. I'm not the only one with this wall. I walked around there are many such walls, and there have never been problems with them. Right across the road another wall was built - a beautiful wall, but the same height as mine. But no inspection came there.





I asked all my neighbors and none of them objected. At they had letters from the council asking if they would object to my wall, and everyone answered in the negative. Moreover, the council recommended me to apply for the construction of the wall retroactively, which I did (it cost me another £240). But then they rejected this application.

In a last ditch effort to save his wall, Roberts decided to contact the State Department of Planning and Environmental Solutions Wales (PEDW) and has had a generally successful result.

Here is the conclusion of the inspector of this higher organization: “I do not I see the point in demanding the demolition of the wall completely, only in order to the lower wall, built from the same materials as the main dwelling, was immediately erected in accordance with the building rights. So manner, and in the context that the enforcement process must be more corrective than punitive, I believe that demolition requirements in this case are excessive. Therefore, I I will change it to demands to reduce the height of the wall.



Well, anyway.

Roberts was ultimately satisfied with the outcome of the case, because reducing the height of the wall is not at all the same as completely reducing it demolish. “This is progress,” he said. I didn't win, but at least not lost outright. Now I have two months to reduce wall height up to a meter.