Tuesday July 22nd 2025
Dawn Gardener infant of her boundary fence
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Stuart Sommerville
A Livingston woman has won a two year fight to keep a boundary fence around her garden.
Dawn Gardner twice appealed to the Scottish Government to keep a fence originally put up to stop drunks using her garden as a toilet.
Neighbours had no problems with the fence but the local community council maintained a robust opposition, branding it a loss of open space.
However the latest Holyrood appointed planning Reporter agreed with Mrs Gardner that the fence was needed “to provide a degree of privacy,” for her home.
“I just glad it’s over,” Mrs Gardner told the Local Democracy Reporting Service this week.
Mrs Gardner’s home in Waverley Crescent occupies a corner site at the entrance to of the estate in Eliburn. As part of her title deeds she also owns a long strip of land alongside and had to maintain it even though it was originally designated, and kept as open ground.
It was frequently used by people exercising dogs, and as a shortcut by commuters walking to the nearby train station.
The last straw came when she opened herback door to see two drunks urinating at her garden wall only a few feet from where she stood.
Mrs Gardner had twice been refused retrospective planning permission for the fence. In April the council’s Development Management Committee rejected the latest application to keep the fence.
This week, after a Scottish Government appointed Reporter backed her latest appeal she weighed into the council for wasting resources.
She told the LDRS there had been two “wasted visits” all because the community council had objected to the fence.
Mrs Gardner added: “All I can say is after two years I’m just glad it’s over. We were never in the wrong but that’s how it was portrayed.
“The council needs to concentrate on helping the people in our community who need it. There’s much more I would say but it wouldn’t be printable.”
Before the fence was built the open space had become an informal footpath, allowing people to cut across the garden and driveway in front of her house.
Having converted the in-built garage to family accommodation Mrs Gardner had already been given permission to build a stand alone garage on the plot.
The Reporter, David Liddell, disagreed with Eliburn Community Council’s claim that the land was open space adding that a “sense of privacy” needed to be recognised.
In a written judgement he said: “The atypical positioning of this plot, with a long and curved boundary facing the street, means that any boundary feature would be long.
“In order to provide a degree of privacy to the rear garden, a fence height of 1.8m is reasonable, and fairly standard. The rest of the fence is only slightly higher than the height at which it would not need planning permission at all.”
“Overall, I do not consider that fence has significant impacts on the local community or on streetscape.”
Mr Liddell added the design objectives of “providing enclosure, privacy and a greater sense of security to the private garden should be recognised.”
He said: “On balance I conclude that the development accords overall with the development plan and that there are no l considerations which would still justify refusing to grant planning permission.”
Planning officers had recommended that the fence be agreed when the matter returned to the DMC in April but councillors rejected the fence for a second time.
A West Lothian Council spokesperson said: “We are aware of the decision of the Scottish Government’s Planning and Environmental Appeals Division (DPEA), which has final authority in planning matters, in this case.
“We would encourage any West Lothian resident looking to develop their property to check in advance if planning permissions are required before going ahead with work, to prevent potential issues in the future.”
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