Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Planners say high Angus fence which divided neighbours can stay in place

Tommy Yule lodged a retrospective application for the 1.8 metre wooden fence around his home at St Vigeans near Arbroath.

Neighbours say the fence has created a road safety hazard. Image: Angus Council
Neighbours say the fence has created a road safety hazard. Image: Angus Council

Angus planners have said a high fence which split opinion in a historic hamlet is allowed to stay in place.

Tommy Yule built the 1.8 metre slatted wooden fence around his property at David’s Hill in St Vigeans, on the edge of Arbroath.

But it provoked complaints from others living on the private road.

They said it made the stretch more dangerous.

Now, Mr Yule has won his fight to keep the fence after Angus development standards councillors approved his retrospective planning application.

Land ownership question

There were 13 letters of objection to the planning bid, and five in support.

Mr Yule did not address councillors on the issue, but in a supporting submission said there had been a fence on land nearby since 2014.

St Vigeans fence.
Planning councillors approved the retrospective application. Image: Angus Council

Objectors claimed the land the fence is built on is not owned by him.

And while council officers said land ownership is not a material consideration, they confirmed Mr Yule’s application included certification he did own the ground.

Officials said a metre-high fence could be put up without planning permission and they didn’t consider the extra height a safety hazard.

‘Deleterious effect’

However, neighbour Michael Ferrier urged the committee to block the bid.

“The inference is that the 0.8 increase in height makes little difference – nothing could be further from the truth,” he told the meeting.

Mr Ferrier told councillors the extra height had created a “dangerous blind corner” on the road.

“The fence has had a deleterious effect on all the other residents.

“It has created blind spots where previously sightlines existed.

“The adverse effect on all the other users far outweighs the benefit to the applicant.”

Development committee chairman David Cheape backed the plan.

“It does irk me that this is a retrospective permission, but taking all things into account I’m going to move approval,” he said.

“Questions of speed and road safety are matters for drivers.

“I was up this road at the weekend to see this site.

“There’s a straight piece of road and there’s a bend in it, and naturally I slowed down for that bend.

“Any driver should be doing that.”

The committee unanimously approved the application.

Conversation