Secret tip sparks investigation into woman’s deck

A UK woman’s backyard deck is set to be bulldozed following a two-year planning dispute. 

The owner, who we’ll call Denise, bought a terraced house in the Welsh town of Chepstow in 2023. 

When she bought it, there was a large timber deck in the back garden. 

The raised platform, which had been built by the previous owner, overlooked several neighbouring houses. 

Denise later told the local council she believed the deck had been built around 2004 or 2005, as reported by the South Wales Argus. 

But a secret source disagreed. 

In 2023, Monmouthshire County Council received a tip-off suggesting the deck had been built just a few years ago in 2021. 

It sparked a lengthy investigation into the backyard structure, which the council suspected was in breach of planning controls.

In March 2025, the council issued Denise an enforcement notice ordering her to tear the deck down. 

The council argued the deck was above the 30 centimetre elevation limit set in law. 

“The decking is in breach of planning control and no positive steps have been taken to alter the structure and/or remove it from the land,” the enforcement notice read. 

“The decking, by virtue of its raised height above the ground below it, results in an unacceptable loss of privacy and overlooking to its neighbouring properties.” 

Denise lodged an appeal with Planning & Environment Decisions Wales, the Welsh government’s national planning agency. 

She argued that because the deck had been built 20 years ago, it was too late for the council to issue an enforcement notice. 

A statutory declaration signed by the previous owner supported Denise’s claim the deck was built around 2004 to 2005. 

“[The deck] was repaired in certain parts since construction as areas had become rotten and dangerous,” read the statutory declaration, as quoted in the appeal decision. 

“There has been no objection to the construction of the decking and no further objection when certain parts were upgraded.” 

However, the council produced photos from online listing platforms to prove the deck had been substantially altered in recent years. 

In a February 2013 photo of the deck taken from the UK real estate website Rightmove, the timber platform appeared small in size. 

It looked much larger in a photo published on the same platform in 2023. 

In August 2025, independent planning inspector Richard E. Jenkins ruled in favour of the council. 

“I am satisfied that the evidence is sufficiently clear to confirm the Council’s position that the decking has materially changed since the original decked area was constructed,” he wrote in his judgement. 

“I find that on the balance of probability it was not too late for the Council to take enforcement action at the time the Notice was issued.”