RESIDENTS of a quiet neighbourhood say their lives are being ruined by their neighbour’s huge fence as it makes them feel “imprisoned”.
Locals of the Hessle area of Hull, Yorkshire, claim that the local council put up the structure without any consultation and have slammed it as too big.
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The green paladin borders the playing fields of St Anne’s School, who say it is necessary to safeguard their pupils.
St Anne’s is a SEND school, meaning that many of the students have severe learning disabilities.
However, nearby residents are less than impressed with the over 7ft metal construction as it towers over their gardens.
They also have concerns about the fact that the new fence is very close to the existing boundaries, with large amounts of litter already gathering in the space between the two.
One neighbour told Hull Live: “The fence makes my garden look and feel imprisoned by an unsightly fence.
“My five-year-old child asked ‘Do we live in a prison now?’ and once the new fence had been taken down, my eight-year-old child said, ‘Yay, we’re not in prison anymore’.
“Secondly, the lack of space to maintain the area between the new fence and the existing boundary fence has already created significant health and safety concerns.”
They also claimed that the growing mound of rubbish in the gap has attracted rats, which have then found their way into local gardens.
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A fellow local blasted the fence as a “monstrosity” and claimed it makes it difficult to keep the grass and weeds cut on the edge of his property.
Residents are now demanding that the council lower the height of the fence and set it back far enough to allow them to maintain their shrubs.
For their part, the council have filed a retrospective planning application to determine whether this is necessary.
Hendi Longman, headteacher at St Anne’s, said: “I firmly believe that this height of fence, 2.4m, is completely necessary in order to safeguard our pupils.
“As a special school, we have pupils with severe, profound and multiple learning difficulties along with complex medical healthcare needs.”
She explained that, without the fence, there is no barrier around the fields higher than 6ft 6 in and there was also a “significant gap” that pupils could squeeze through.
Ms Longman added: “This left the school and residents completely open to people walking onto the sports fields and accessing our site, as well as presenting an extremely significant absconding risk for our pupils.
“I cannot stress enough how unsafe this made the playing fields and as a result.”
Parents of the children at the school also supported the fence as “every child deserves safe access to education and outside play”, she said.
East Riding of Yorkshire Council has been contacted for comment.
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