Fencing Clarification - Appeal - Corner Plot - Loosing the will to live

[Guest]

Hi there everyone! *We live on a large corner plot which we moved to 1 year ago. *Due to four burglaries (our 16 year old upset the local gang culture - dont ask!) and lots of hassle last summer put up a fence on top of our dwarf wall which took the height in total to 2.3m. *Didnt realise we needed planning. *Someone reported it. *We paid a surveyor £300 plus planning fee to submit retrospective planning and got refused. *Now had enforcement letter, but thought we had 6 months to appeal and t has been 12 weeks since decision. *Anyhow, *we realise we have to take down the fence but we have thought about coming in a 1m or just over from the wall and erecting the fence in our garden. *We realise we will loose some of the front garden but it would give us privacy as our house sits diagonal across our plot. *Can we do this as I have been reading we could still be told to take it down due to aesthetics and surrounding area, which is what they quoted us as most houses have dwarf walls with open front or railings with large bushes. We have now also spent £100s on laurel bushes which we have just planted but this will take a while. *The man who complained lives round the corner, is a local builder so obviously knows the planning people. *I am just exhausted with it all. *I have now asked for the planning to come out. *As well as this we already a 1.8m fence to the back garden (adjacent to public highway) and added to the existing fence to increase its height to 2.3m. *Planning are now saying we have to reapply for that fence, but I am arguing for a certificate of lawful development as it has been there for a decade. *To top it all half the blooming wall came down in the storm last week with the fence on top so it now looks like Steptoe's yard. *Any advice appreciated