Council says ‘oppressive’ fencing installed after Perthshire Caravans break-in has to go

Perthshire Caravans has been told to remove security fencing hastily installed after a break-in.

Five caravans worth around £164,000 were stolen from the business on the A90, near Errol, between midnight and 2am on Thursday, July 25.

The caravan dealer responded by immediately replacing stock-proof fencing with a 125m-long palisade structure along the rural road south of its extended storage area.

Both new and old fences are 1.8m tall.

The new fence required planning permission, and in the application form the company admitted that “due to a break-in at the premises, the site had to be secured without delay”.

Neighbour Alastair Grant responded with a neutral comment.

It said the fence had appeared “just in front of my kitchen window”.

He continued: “I understand the security issues but as the caravans that were stolen were at the far end of the field, should this fence not have been built there?

“There was a small fence there with small trees planted.

“As an industrial fence in a rural setting, could the fence at least be painted a nice grass green to soften the impact to the general public?”

Perth and Kinross Council demands removal of Perthshire Caravans fencing

Perth and Kinross Council’s decision statement said the previous fence, constructed from timber posts with a square wire mesh, had a “high degree of visual permeability, and which enclosed the field in a manner which was sympathetic to the rural context of the field.”

However, it said the current fence “is more akin to an industrial estate than an agricultural field enclosure.”

The statement added: “It limits the visual permeability of the field boundary and has a harmful impact upon the character and visual amenity of the surrounding countryside.

“Security could be enhanced in a manner which is much more sympathetic to the rural context by locating it within the established and extended compound.

“The proposal, by virtue of its design, height, extent, prominent roadside position and rural location, results in an incongruous feature which is imposing, oppressive, overbearing and out of keeping with the rural character of the area.”

As a result, retrospective planning permission was refused.

A Police Scotland spokesperson said that enquiries into the July break-in remain ongoing.

Perthshire Caravans declined to comment on the council’s decision.