A SEVEN foot fence surrounding waste land close to a Thurrock industrial estate will have to come down becasue it is a blight on the green belt, Thurrock council planning officers have decided.

The 2.4m blue-painted fence is on lcan adjacent to the railway line on the Wharf Road appraoch to the Stanhope estate in Stanford-le-Hope and can only be seen from the road, in an area surrounded by treees and bushes.

However, planning officers say the fence, which was erected in May last year without planning permission, is unsightly and it will have to go.

Officers insisted that a retrospective application be made for permission - and this week announced it has been refused. The full report on the fence can be viewed via this link and the planning refusal notice is here.

Officers say the fence is "an inappropriate development in the Green Belt which is by definition harmful. Additional harm has been identified by reason of the creation of an overly urban and industrial design and form of development and loss of openness and conflict with the stated purposes of the Green Belt."

They also raises issues with the site access gates, saying

No Very Special Circumstances have been put forward to justify inappropriate development in the Green Belt. The refusal notice says: "The lack of suitable and appropriate visibility splays, in conjunction with the location of the access on the bend in Wharf Road, results in unacceptable harm to pedestrians, oncoming vehicles, and for drivers using the highway."