A Dundee couple claim they have been treated “unfairly” after losing their fight to keep a £20,000 fence outside their home.
Kirpal and Santosh Chima will be forced to remove fencing and a gate at their West End home.
The Courier previously told how Dundee City Council had refused retrospective planning permission for the 10-metre-wide, 1.6-metre-tall fence across the front of their garden on Farington Street.
The couple then appealed the case to the Scottish Government – but it has now been thrown out.
The husband and wife insist the fence is needed to stop their young grandchildren falling onto the pavement, or being “impaled” by the existing railing.
Dundee couple ‘won’t be able to go to the front garden’ after being forced to remove fence
They told planning officials they believed the fence was needed as a fall onto the railing “could not only be serious but fatal for a small child”.
Santosh, a retired healthcare manager, claims the “human factor” has been ignored in the decision-making process.
She told The Courier: “It is like they are saying it is nothing more than a fence.
“We won’t be able to go to the front garden with the grandchildren or even ourselves as we have to be careful, we are getting older and it is easier to fall.
“They have said we could put up a hedge but you don’t just plonk a hedge up, it is a lot of work and a lot of work to maintain it, it is not just a one-off cost.
“We will have to think about what we will do next.
“I am going to write to Dundee City Council to ask why it is just us – there is a house down the street with the same fence and they haven’t had any problems.
“I just feel like a victim, why is it just us?”
She added: “We are just going to have to reconsider what we can do but I don’t think there is anything else we can do.
“We are just upset, it cost us money and we will need to take it down.
“It would cost too much to take this to court.”
The Scottish Government dismissed the couple’s appeal and ordered the fence to be removed within 60 days.
The decision notice added: “The council suggests alternatives that might address the appellant’s concerns around safety and privacy, including hedging and works to alter the form of the front garden.
Scottish Government orders removal of fence outside Dundee home
“It would be for the appellant to consider whether any of these or other options would be suitable and would meet the relevant statutory requirements.
“However, on the evidence before me, there are no options that would retain
the unauthorised fencing and gate and I find that no lesser steps could be taken to remedy the breach.
“I do not therefore consider that the removal of the fencing and gate would be
excessive to remedy the breach.”
A Dundee City Council spokesperson said: “We are aware of the Scottish Government Reporter’s decision.”
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