Obstructive fence in National Park stopped

We were instructed to object urgently to plans to erect a 1.8 metre steel fence alongside a railway track in the Peak District National Park. Network Rail agreed to install a fence that was more sympathetic to the open character of the landscape.

The works were intended to be carried out under permitted development rules. In a letter to Network Rail we pointed out: (1) that the erection of the fence fell outside of the permitted development regime and; (2) that the proposed works fell within the scope of Schedule 2 of The Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017 based on the likely significant environmental effects of the development – interrupting views across the Hope Valley and generating wildlife impacts in the National Park – and as such required a screening opinion from the local authority to determine whether an environmental impact assessment (an “EIA”) was required, which based on our assessment of the facts would likely result in a decision that an EIA was required.

Network Rail held off from immediate plans to erect the steel fence and agreed to install something similar to the one that was already there and in need of upgrading, which meant the openness of the countryside was maintained and an unsympathetic result which would have been harmful for wildlife avoided.