Outwood has been dividing up land for a long time. The medieval Out Wood was a mix of trees and open common ground until an Act of Parliament in 1793 split it into private fields, and names such as Carr Gate and Lofthouse Gate survive from the old entrances into the wood. Today the boundaries are garden fences rather than field edges, but the question is the same: where does one plot end and the next begin, and what should mark the line?
Affordable Gardens & Landscapes is a family run, fully insured business based in Knottingley. We take on fencing jobs in Outwood for homes and commercial customers, whether that means replacing a run of tired panels or putting in a new boundary.
Fences on and near Leeds Road
Leeds Road is the A61, and it runs through the middle of Outwood for over a mile. A fence facing a road used by vehicles has a lower height limit than one between back gardens. Under the Planning Portal's guidance, a boundary next to a highway used by vehicles can generally go up to one metre without planning permission, while elsewhere the limit is two metres. So a front fence along the main road, or along a side street on a corner plot, is normally kept low, and the taller panels go at the back.
A busy road also affects how the job is done. Old panels, posts and concrete have to come out, and new materials have to come in, so where a van can stop safely and how everything gets to the garden are worth sorting first.
Estate and newer gardens
King George Street runs through a post-war council estate in the garden city style, and a large share of Outwood's housing was built from the 1970s, when the village grew and merged with Wrenthorpe and Stanley. Where back gardens sit side by side and back to back, a single fence can be the boundary for more than one household. It is worth talking to the neighbours before anything comes down, agreeing the line and the height, and deciding whether the new fence should match the ones either side.
A fence that is already there can usually be renewed on the same line, because the national rules allow an existing fence to be maintained, improved or taken down, as long as the height limits are kept.
Is Outwood a conservation area?
Outwood does not appear on Wakefield Council's list of conservation areas, which takes in places such as St John's and Wentworth Terrace in the city, and Newmillerdam and Heath further out. That means the extra controls that come with a conservation area do not normally apply to an Outwood garden fence. The exceptions to watch for are listed buildings, since the usual allowances do not cover a listed building or its grounds, or a boundary shared with one, and any planning condition attached to a newer house.
If you live on the Lofthouse side, note that Lofthouse falls within the City of Leeds rather than Wakefield, even with its WF3 postcode, so Leeds City Council is the planning authority there.
Picking the right fence
There is no single answer, and you can talk the options through when we visit. A front garden on a road usually suits something low and neat. A back garden that wants privacy may suit full-height panels, perhaps with trellis on top where climbers can grow. Where a fence meets an existing hedge, wall or gate, the join needs thought so it looks deliberate rather than patched. Sturdy posts set properly in the ground matter more than the style of panel, especially on an exposed plot.
Ground varies from one garden to the next, and old rubble, roots or footings along a boundary are not unusual in established gardens, so the first post holes usually show what the rest of the run will be like.
Fencing with landscaping
A new fence is often the start of a bigger change. Once the boundary is sorted, the garden inside it can follow: a patio, a gravelled strip along the fence, new turf or artificial grass. Our landscaping in Outwood page covers that side. If the old fence is hidden behind years of brambles and ivy, a garden clearance in Outwood clears the line first.
Read more about our fencing, or see all our services on the Outwood area page. To ask for a quote, call 07347 572509 on a weekday between 9am and 6pm and tell us roughly how long the run is, how high you want it and what is there now.
