A HOMEOWNER has won a fight to keep a pillared brick wall built outside a home in Ockendon without planning permission.

In June, the owners of the home in Cullen Square were refused retrospective planning permission for a pillared wall which planning officers said had a "significant adverse impact" on the area.

A previous low wall was been replaced with 2ft high wall interspersed with eight brick columns up to 4.5ft high. The columns were topped with black cap stones.

The wall and pillars were built at the front of the two-storey property near green belt in January last year but a planning application was only submitted following an enforcement investigation by planning officers.

In a subsequent report, they said: "The wall as built, by reason of its siting, appearance, scale and design results in an overly dominant and incongruous feature in the street scene, which results in significant harm to the appearance of the street scene, character of the area."

However, following an appeal, the planning inspector disagreed and said the house itself stood out.

A report said: "The Inspector noted that the appeal dwelling stands out and somewhat dominates the street scene as a result of the fully rendered exterior, which sets it apart visually in a street consisting of mostly brick houses.

"The appeal site therefore already appears different to the local vernacular in the street scene. In this context, he considered the addition of the wall and its eight brick pillars would not contribute to the incongruity or dominance of the site."

The report added: "The appeal site has a similar style of wall at the rear, also along the boundary with the park.

"When observed from the public realm, this complements the front boundary treatment and appears cohesive and congruous across the site, demonstrating sympathy and respect for the surrounding built environment.

"For these reasons therefore, the scale, height, and design of the appeal development is not incongruous or at odds with the character and appearance of the area."