A COUPLE are at their wits’ end with Wiltshire Council after being told they cannot replace a dilapidated fence and hedge with a brick wall.

Richard and Christine Glover who want to build a 1.8 metre wall outside their Amesbury home say they have been met with delays and a lack of transparency as local authority planning officers failed to provide them with any opportunity to suggest alternative proposals.

Mr Glover says he was initially told by the case officer that the application would be recommended for approval.

But it was in fact rejected when conservation concerns were raised due to the site’s proximity to Amesbury Abbey, and Amesbury Church, Grade I and II buildings.

“Despite the site not being in a conservation area, it was suddenly treated as if it was,” Mr Glover said.

“The conservation officer’s report highlights that if officers approve the plans, details should be agreed regarding matter such as brick choice.

“But planning officers refused to attend a site visit or discuss any amendments to the application.”

He also added: “The decision to refuse should be changed to ‘approved with conditions’, which should then be discussed in a reasonable way.

“If they had wanted a couple of rows of flint in it, then we would have done that.”

Mr Glover called the council’s appeals process for the couple’s wall application “pointless”.

He said: “The whole point of the appeal was that we had accepted that there were conservation issues, and were willing to discuss alternatives, but the planning department had been so slow and uncooperative that we were denied any opportunity to come to a satisfactory scheme.

“The appeals inspector viewed the situation in much the same way as the conservation officer but then dismissed my main argument saying my concerns over the handling of application were immaterial to her decision and that it could be taken up directly with the council.

“Which part of the council, other than the planning department, should this have been taken up with?”

He added: “An appeals process must cover both the decision and the way in which it was arrived at, or it is pointless.”

A Wiltshire Council spokesman said: “One of the main duties of all planning authorities is to ensure any development is appropriate for the area.

"Due to its location among a number of Grade II* and Grade I listed properties this site is particularly sensitive. Because of this, the applicants were advised throughout the course of the planning process that their application was likely to be refused.

"The decision to refuse was upheld at appeal by the government’s own independent inspector. We are satisfied we acted appropriately throughout this process.”