Britain's ugliest decking must be torn down after family loses appeal

Sports centre manager, 38, set to lose his appeal to keep 44ft long £6,000 SUPER DECKING he installed on steel poles so his ‘children could play in privacy’ as long-running planning battle approaches an end

• A family from South Wales is set to lose an appeal to keep ‘unsightly’ decking
• The 44ft long garden decking stands 16ft tall, towering over the street below 
• Jamie Davies, 38, said he built the enormous structure to give his family privacy
• He originally erected the super decking without council planning permission 
• A retrospective application is set to be denied for the ‘appalling’ structure

A family is set to lose a protracted planning battle to keep Britain’s ugliest garden decking, which is 44ft long and towers 16ft over the street below.

Homeowner Jamie Davies, 38, put up the super structure on a huge steel frame in a bid to give his family privacy in their garden in Blaina, South Wales.

But he failed to apply for planning permission for the mega decking covering the sloping side of his modern detached garden.

Jamie’s bid for retrospective planning permission is set to be refused after council planners said it was ‘an unduly dominant feature’. 

It comes two years after Jamie first applied for back-dated permission for the £6,000 decking and was refused.

The 44ft long decking (pictured) is held up by a huge steel frame and towers 16ft above the street below in Blaina, South Wales

Cllr Bernard Willis called the decking ‘the most appalling thing’ he had ever seen in his life at a Blaenau Gwent council planning committee hearing

Jamie, who is the manager of a sports centre, said the decking had been put up to provide ‘privacy for the children while they play’.

Planning officer Joanne White said: ‘The application is not significantly different to that previously refused by planning committee and the planning inspector.

‘The decking to be retained sits along the rear side boundary, fronting the road.

‘The dwelling occupies a corner plot within the estate commonly known as ‘Tanglewood’ in Blaina.

‘The topography is such that Tanglewood Drive rises steeply from west to east.

‘Thus, the adjacent property at Tanglewood Drive is at a significantly lower level than the application site property.’

Ms White said there are ‘other ways’ to increase the usable space of the garden.

She added: ‘I do not consider this is a reason in which to allow an unacceptable development.’

Ms White said that planning permission should be refused as it would be ‘an unduly dominant feature’ that has an adverse visual ‘impact upon the street scene.’

Blaenau Gwent Council will discuss the plans at a future meeting, where the fate of the super decking will be decided.

At a 2020 planning committee meeting to consider a different application to keep the same super decking, planning officers slammed the structure as ‘unsightly’ and setting an ‘undesirable precedent for similar structures throughout the estate’.

Homeowner Jamie Davies, 38, spent £6,000 erecting the super structure, which he said was intended to give his children privacy while they played in the garden

At the Blaenau Gwent council planning committee meeting, Cllr Bernard Willis called the decking ‘the most appalling thing I have ever seen in my life’, according to South Wales Argus.

He continued: ‘If that was being built near my house I would be appalled.

‘I think it is a dreadful thing to be looking at and in my view we should not be approving this application.’

Garden decking became popular from the late 1990’s – with makeover show Ground Force getting the blame for the boom.

Retailer B&Q reported an increase in sales of the lawn alternative from £5,000 in 1997 to a staggering £16million in 2001.

Presenter Alan Titchmarsh apologised for the lawn cover-up – saying at the time: ‘I am sorry, I know it’s everywhere these days.’

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