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When we moved into Felstead we were aware that some work was needed to the property. Both the front and rear gardens were in a sorry state. We were concerned to address the many safety issues evident on a plot with a natural gradient greater than one in three. In 2004 we contacted Living Landscapes, a Manx-based company, to discuss the work needed at the rear. We made the assumption that any work undertaken was landscaping and that it would take into account and be sympathetic to the natural levels that existed at the back. Likewise at the front we were concerned to keep to a minimum the need for large-scale earth movements and sought to use rubble and soil generated on site for the infill needed. Our primary goals here were to level the area immediately in front of the house to use as a sitting area, to maintain access to the rear of the property and to provide railings for safety.
We always felt that this was a landscaping project. There was no attempt to undermine the role of the Planning Authorities or ignore the need for planning approval.
We bought Felstead on 23rd August 2004 and moved in on the same day. The Vendor was Terrestrial Investments Limited a company under the control of Mr & Mrs Lovis the previous owners of Felstead who bought the property on 31st January 2002. Mr & Mrs Lovis had transferred ownership of Felstead to Terrestrial Investments Limited at the beginning of July, eight weeks earlier.
The Lovises never occupied Felstead. The property had been left unoccupied for over two and a half years before we moved in. During this unoccupied period extensive work was done to the rear of the house to make good the four metre retaining wall behind the single storey extension to the property. In addition extensive concreting work took place to the side and front of the property with the creation of some rudimentary steps leading down the left hand side of the front garden towards the steps at the front boundary. Significant renovations also took place to the interior. At some stage during these works the Lovises decided against Felstead as their new home and instead bought a house in Peel. The consequences of this decision, which became clear to us only after we had moved in, were that although the earlier completed work had been completed to a high standard, it appeared that the more recent work had been done in haste with consideration given only to utilitarian issues to make the property saleable and with very little consideration to safety elements or aesthetics. The rear garden had not been touched at all.
When we moved in to Felstead the terraces at the rear were unsafe. They were overgrown with weeds and brambles, the terraces were uneven as were the steps leading up to the first level, there were no steps leading from the first level to the higher terraces and there were no railings in place. We were made aware of the very real dangers present when told that the reason that the last occupants of Felstead had sold the property was because of a serious spinal injury to one of them that had occurred as a result of a fall down the steps leading from the first terrace.
Additionally there was no boundary fence in place between the two semi-detached properties at the rear. Dogs belonging to the next-door neighbours had free access to the back garden and were used to using it as a toilet area.
At the front there were no protective rails to the grassed area in front of the house despite a drop of four feet to the path below. There were two paths at the front. The path to the right leading up to the front door had an adequate width, a gentle incline and even steps. It was evident that this path had been there for a long time and was perfectly useable. However the path to the left of the property running alongside the tall privet hedge was not so useable. It had been laid in concrete as part of the recent renovations. The steps were uneven, it was very narrow (750 mm or 2.5 feet) and difficult to negotiate when carrying anything, and there was no light penetration from the house in the dark because of the hedge on one side and the wall on the other. Further down the path towards the front boundary the concrete path dipped sharply with quite a marked camber before turning to join the steps leading up from the front gate.
One other danger was present which was not immediately obvious and only became obvious the following summer. The privet hedge to the left of the property at the front between Felstead and Halewood is substantial. It reaches a height of over four metres from Bradda Road and is up to two metres wide. It is even higher on the Halewood side and my neighbours had a lot of difficulty in keeping the hedge trimmed. Pruning and trimming the hedge was more difficult because of the uneven concreted path. To make matters worse both the telephone and power supply cables to Felstead run side by side at an angle across the hedge with a clearance of only a metre. I was unfortunate to cut completely through one of the cables but fortunate that it was the telephone cable on one occasion. The work done to the front has completely eliminated the danger as there is now very easy access to the top of the hedge.
Issues of privacy
We have tried to respect our neighbour’s need for privacy at every stage during the improvements to both the front and rear gardens.
We have maintained the original privet and fuchsia hedges to both common boundaries. I carried out extensive pruning of the fuchsia hedge boundary in the back garden between Felstead and Halewood to encourage new growth from the base of the hedge. This has been successful in giving improved weather protection and privacy.
There was no fence on the right hand side of the property at the back when we moved in at the end of summer in 2004. In late 2004 we discussed the construction of a boundary fence with Mr and Mrs Owen and we outlined the work that we were proposing to do at the back. We suggested that we share the cost of fence to give them the opportunity to make clear their ideas about the size and scale of this part of work (in the end we funded the fence fully). We also instructed Living Landscapes to build the fence with the support structures facing towards our side so that our neighbours would benefit from the clean lines on the opposite side of the fence. We have also trained clematis and passion flower climbers over the fence to soften the look. We have done the same on the opposite boundary between Felstead and Halewood again giving the fence a cleaner look from our neighbours’ aspect.
On the top terrace, now with decking, we have placed an assortment of screening planters to add a degree of privacy.
Aesthetics
We have tried to create safe, useable garden areas on difficult terrain. Necessarily this has involved levelling the various terraces, building regular steps and safety railings. There is an on-going project to improve the look with substantial use of planting, particularly climbers to disguise and soften the look of the work.
REAR RETAINING WALL
SAFETY RAIL (STEEL/GLASS) APPROVED 1-1 M 1-8 M 38 M
DECKING TOP LEVEL
LINE OF NEW STEPS
ROOF
4 M
LEVEL OF ORIGINAL TERRACES
4 M
4 M
GROUND
7.5 M
FLOOR LEVEL
SCALE 1:50 FELSTEAD BRADDA ROAD PLANNING REF: SO/07/00269/COMP
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