A FURIOUS homeowner was forced to demolish half of his £5,000 garden wall – because the council said it was 20cm too high.
Mark Roberts, 62, built the 6ft stone wall in 2020 to stop passers-by peering into his home in Caerphilly, south Wales.
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One of his neighbours on Aneurin Bevan Avenue had put up a near-identical high wall without any trouble.
But council bosses told Mark in 2021 that someone had complained about his £5,000 wall’s height – and that he needed to tear it down.
Ex-miner Mark said he did not know that any wall or fence higher than a metre needs planning permission.
He added that thought he could do what he liked to his own property, and immediately appealed the order.
The council then told Mark that he could keep the wall – but needed to cut it down to a metre in height.
None of the residents on the street objected to Mark’s wall when consulted by Caerphilly Council.
Mark said: “I then cut the wall down to 1.2m in height. So I cut it down by more than half a metre.
“There are many walls and fences in the area higher than a metre.”
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Council inspectors came back to Mark’s home again without him knowing to see if he’d razed enough of the wall.
They demanded that he would have to cut it down by a further 20cm – or face prosecution.
Mark said: “It looks terrible now doesn’t it? It was nice and private before all of this.
“There are so many walls around here over a metre. I feel I’ve been targeted with it all really and I’ve been unfairly treated.
“I tried to make the house look nice and I wasn’t hurting anyone. I’m not even allowed to put a fence on the wall.
“I can’t put a fence on it but I can grow a tall hedge. It’s ridiculous.”
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