FAMILY’S ‘DREADFUL DECKING’ MUST GO
AFAMILY has been ordered to tear down “dreadful” decking outside their home which towers 16ft over the street below. Homeowner Jamie Davies, 36, put up the 44ft-long decking on a huge steel frame in a bid to give his family privacy in their garden.
But he failed to apply for planning permission for the feature covering the sloping side of his £200,000 modern detached home’s garden.
He applied for retrospective permission, as well as seeking to extend the decking to wrap around the garden, but his bid was turned down with one councillor saying the £6,000 decking was “the most appalling thing”.
And the Davies family could now face legal action if they don’t rip out the decking unless they can find a compromise with planners.
A council planning committee heard no neighbours had yet formally objected to the garden frame in the Hawthorn Glade development in Blaina, Blaenau Gwent.
But councillor Bernard Willis said the decking was “the most appalling thing I have ever seen in my life”.
He said: “If that was being built near my house I would be appalled.
“I think it is a dreadful thing to be looking at and in my view we should not be approving this application.”
The family had hoped to add plants in front of the decking to shield the steel from view outside their home.
Cllr Lisa Winnett told Blaenau Gwent planners she was in favour of the build. She said: “Many developments are quite similar. I do not see an issue with the visual impact of this if planting is done on the outside.”
But the application was rejected. Garden decking became all the rage from the late 1990s with makeover show Ground Force getting the blame for the boom.
Retailer B&Q reported an increase in sales of decking from £5,000 in 1997 to a staggering £16m in 2001.
Presenter Alan Titchmarsh said at the time: “I am sorry, I know it’s everywhere these days.”
Dad Jamie, manager of a sports centre, said: “We put the decking up to give privacy for the children while they play. The next step for us will be talking to the planning officers and seeing what we can do next. We don’t know about an appeal yet.”