Homeowner ordered to lower garden terrace as it 'overlooks' neighbouring houses

A homeowner has been told to reduce the height of a garden terrace which was built in his back garden. The local authority has said the work has impacted of the privacy of neighbours.

The resident of Chapel Close in Dinas Powys, Wales, had created a terrace of artificial grass with a barbecue on the same level as his patio doors. The Vale of Glamorgan's planning committee heard that the height had been increased by 600mm and meant that the garden wall was now at 1.2m.

This means that the privacy of the homeowner's neighbour had been significantly reduced, the committee heard on September 26. An enforcement notice on the property requires the homeowner to lower their garden to a height of no more than 300mmm above the original ground level.

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The homeowner had refused to take action to either reduce the height of their terrace or submit a planning application seeking to explore other options. Council officials had visited in August 2023 after a complaint was made about the garden work, WalesOnline reports.

When they arrived, it was noticed that a new tier had been built in the garden, reducing the height of the fence dividing the property and 11 Chapel Close from 1.8m to 1.2m. In a report on the proposed planning enforcement notice, the council said this resulted in a "significant degree of overlooking".

The homeowner wrote to the council in September 2023 to dispute that the level of the garden had been raised by more than 300mm and that planning permission was required.

Cllr Christine Cave, who sits on the planning committee, said that the council had been hypocritical to intervene. She likened the situation to what happened at the former Eagleswell Primary School site in Llantwit Major, where portable homes were allowed to be set up through special planning powers.

She said: "When we made the site visit [to Eagleswell] and we actually asked why the ground had been built up and why the buildings could then be overlooking into peoples' gardens.

"This seems a bit hypocritical to me here, that the council have done exactly the same on a much grander scale with huge overlooking of peoples' gardens and now we are being told it is not permissible."

The council allowed the development of the site at Llantwit Major through what is known as permitted development rights. The planning powers are usually used in an emergency which in this case was the housing of Ukrainian refugees. The scheme must eventually get planning permission within 12 months of the date of construction starting.

The council's planning committee voted to give the site of 90 units permission to remain in place for a minimum of five more years in July. Residents were unhappy the plans had been allowed to go through without any consultation, with some of the units just metres away from their gardens.

Vale of Glamorgan Council operational manager for planning and building control, Liam Jones, said the committee could only consider the merits of the enforcement notice application in front of them and did not comment on the Eagleswell development.

"Here we have a situation where the homeowner has erected a surface that allows permanent direct overlooking into the neighbouring property," he said. "I don't propose to consider the merits of a different scheme considered by this committee, so we have to treat this on its own merit."