LOCALS in one town are fuming after a favourite spot with fantastic views has been “obliterated” by a new wall.
It’s been dubbed the ‘Great Wall of Axbridge‘ – but the 400m plain wooden fence in Somerset is no eighth world wonder and has been compared to the Berlin Wall.
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For locals the quarter-mile long fence has completely wiped out the views over the rolling countryside and left many fuming about the loss of their heritage.
The fence has been built around the location where 53 new homes are set to go after they received council permission in 2020, the Somerset County Gazette reports.
Objectors claimed the development should never have received planning permission because of its proximity to The Mendip Hills – an area of outstanding natural beauty.
Chris Camp, 73, a self-employed business owner whose home overlooks what he has dubbed the ‘Great Wall of Axbridge’ can’t believe what the developers have done.
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He said: “I’ve lived here for more than 40 years and this is just plain wrong. What possessed the builders to think that this brown monstrosity was a good idea.
“This road is the main route into the town and it just gives off the wrong impression to locals and visitors alike. It used to be a wonderful entrance into the town – now it’s an eyesore.
“From this end of town we had sweeping views of the Somerset countryside from Crooks Peak right over to Glastonbury Tor – now that’s been obliterated by this fence.”
Camp told a council committee last March that the plan was “flawed from the outset”.
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He said: “This development provides a unique opportunity to improve the situation for all residents and visitors to the town.
“Residents will quickly concrete over their front gardens to create the additional parking they require, which will have effects on run-off and the new estate’s aesthetic.
“Are we saying that after this development, dangerous parking is officially being sanctioned? We deserve and expect better.”
Pensioner John Chard, 83, has lived in the town all his life and is sad that the place he stops off to admire the view has gone.
He said: “There were fewer more beautiful places to sit and take in the wonderful Somerset countryside than on the benches overlooking the fields.
“Now all we’ve got is a plain wooden fence which some have called the Great Wall of Axbridge but to me it looks like it has been installed by those who put up the Berlin Wall. It’s as if the next thing they will do is put up a watch tower
“It’s a monstrosity and needs to come down – it’s not pretty and it’s akin to an act of vandalism.”
Harry Mottram, who has lived in the town for more than 30 years, said the developers Bellway Homes had ruined what was a once peaceful spot in the town.
He said: “We are on the edge of an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and they do something like this.
“The views across the Bristol Channel to Wales are spectacular on a good day and even when the weather closes in you can still see the landmark which is Crooks Peak.
“There was a perfectly good hedgerow where the wooden wall is now which was home to hundreds of nesting birds and now which has gone.”
Bellway Homes want to build 53 tow to five-bedroom homes on the site in a development that will be known as ‘Lavender Rise’.
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A spokesman for Bellway Homes said the company was complying with all the regulations set out in its planning proposal.
Bellway Homes bought the site from the original developer and put forward amended proposals in 2022 which gained unanimous council approval in 2023.
How to complain if this happens to you?
In this situation, Bellway own the site and have permission to redevelop it.
Therefore they are allowed to build a fence around the land as long as that fits in with planning permissions also – which a spokesperson for the company said they believe it does.
Now that the fence is built, objectors could sue Bellway in court, but they could end up losing.
Further, as homes are going to be built on the site, the view is going to dissappear anyway.
Anyone building a fence in Somerset needs planning permission if the fence exceeds two metres above ground or one metre if you live next to a highway or footpath.
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