Resident wins planning fight to keep fence after Glasgow City Council ordered it to be torn down

A Glasgow resident has won a planning fight to keep her garden fence after the council ordered her to tear it down because of its height.

Planners at the council decided Sandra Watson’s fence behind her semi-detached house in Huxley Place, Ruchill, was too tall based on measurement guidance.

But the owner appealed to the Scottish Government who sent a reporter out to inspect the garden and ruled the fence could stay as it is only 1.8m. The allowed height is two metres.

Ms Watson said in an appeal statement that reducing the height of the fence would “afford her no privacy whatsoever”.

She said: “The fence I have erected within my back garden is fully compliant with the two-metre height restriction.

“Every other property in the neighbourhood has a two-metre fence surrounding their garden for privacy and my fence is identical in height and width to all other properties in the area.”

The council calculated the fence was “nine feet in height” as they measured it from the lowest point immediately adjacent to it according to guidance.

A council statement in response to the appeal said: “The appellant alleges that the fence is two-metres in height. As per the Scottish Government guidance, when taken from the lowest point, the fence is over two metres and this can be clearly seen in the provided photograph.”

It added: “The council’s case for taking enforcement action is straightforward. The fence exceeds permitted development rights and also exceeds the height allowed for by the City Development Plan policy.”

But a Scottish Government reporter came up with a different conclusion after making a trip to the property.

Disagreeing with the local authority findings, the government reporter said: “In this case, as observed at my site inspection, the fence is entirely within the boundary of the property and the ground is level on either side.

“My measurement of its height at 1.8m is clear and unambiguous.”

Explaining more about the decision issued last month, the reporter said: “The council’s appeal response considers the fence to be nine feet high, with the measurement taken from the lowest point of the adjoining garden.

“Whilst this may appear to be the case it is not accurate because it does not take into account the level ground between the base of the new fence and the property boundary.”