18/00541/FUL

12 Oakthorpe Road Oxford OX2 7BE

10 April 2018

 Removal of the existing fence and trellis in the front garden and replacement with cedar battens and posts to provide a sound structure for climbing plants and shrubs. (Retrospective)

Oakthorpe Road is an attractive residential road of terraced Victorian houses. The houses are separated from the road by small front gardens. Many of these are pleasingly planted and none of the terraced houses have 6 foot high fences. The front doors opening onto the gardens helps to promote a sense of community.

Retrospective planning permission is being sought for a garden fence. This is a formidable structure, 6 foot high and made of closely spaced narrow slats of wood. It is designed to maintain privacy and not for growing plants up. It is striking and creates a very unsightly street scene

A trellis work fence similar to the previous fencing would provide a much sounder structure for training climbing plants. The close spacing of the slats will restrict light to the plants, not permit plants to climb naturally and largely prevent them being seen from the street. This is in contrast to the beautiful shrub, in full flower, scrambling over the old fence, shown in the attached google street view.

The new fence spoils the street view and would set an unfortunate precedent. Planning permission should be refused.