North Tyneside councillors defied council officers to grant planning permission for the installation of a 2.4m steel mesh fence around a grade II listed home in Whitley Bay.
The owners of the house, the Bay View bungalow on Norma Crescent, Whitley Bay, applied to have a 2.4m fence installed to prevent anti-social behaviour occurring in the garden and grounds which they say has plagued them for some time. There is a fence already in place but is reportedly easily scalable by tresspassers.
In a written representation to councillors, the occupants said: “Certain groups of young people (mainly young males) use the cliff top, to enter the sea (tombstoning we believe it is named) and to engage in anti-social behaviour, which invariably includes alcohol and drug use. It is this type of person who will trespass across our garden as it is easier to do so than climb back down the cliff top. There have been times when the garden has been used as a dust bin, and we have had to collect beer cans, food wrapping etc.
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“The police are aware of our address being a ‘hot spot’ and have been called on many occasions, often attending when the trespassers have left the area. This is naturally not a priority for Northumbria Police, especially over the summer months when their resources are stretched, nor would we expect to be.”
Despite this, council officers recommended councillors reject the application as it was officers’ opinion such fencing would be, according to a report on the issue, “incongruous and intrusive feature to both the setting of the listed building, and to the character and appearance of the conservation area and street scene in general”.
However, councillors sided with the owners and voted unanimously in favour of the installation of the fence.
Councillor Jane Shaw said: “As somebody who lives and walks in the area on a daily basis, the current fence is not pretty but it is necessary, there is an obvious danger that you could fall off the cliff. I would also say I am surprised the council has not taken into account the history of anti-social behaviour that takes place.
“I myself have told young people, who seem to think they are invincible when they come to Cullercoats, 'have you thought about what your mum would say if you fell off?’ So anything that would deter them would be quite a good thing.”
Chair of the planning committee, Coun Willie Samuel said: “There are considerations beyond the aesthetic look of the fence. I have to say that I have listened to the debate and so far I am less and less convinced refusal is the right way to go.
“I have spent, it’s not a material planning consideration as such, spent much of the last week meeting with police and other other officers about anti-social behaviour in the Cullercoats area and I think I can’t put it out of my mind. With an issue as finely balanced as this I think we have to err on the side of doing what we can to deter anti-social behaviour.”
Councillors voted unanimously in favour of the installation of the fence.
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