I am having a bit of a dilemma, about my garden

I have a chap lined up to patio a area of it and sort out some fencing, I had to clear the area behind my garage, were the previous owners had dumped old fences, doors plant pots, get rid of my old shed, so I made a start this week

Only to find the mound of junk was infact 2-3ft of earth and no retaining wall between my garden and the foundations of my neighbours garage.

So if I dig down, to my garage bases level, then i'm left with a wall of clay mud, that could wash out over time and effect her garage base.

A couple of landscapers said that area, behind my garage is nearly 10m2 so why not build it up and deck that area instead of a 10m2 bin store

so im not back to the design idea stage, grey patio the new patio area? dig out and build a retaining wall, to hold back her 20ft garage and foundations

or

leave and build a decking section on risers and have a area to do something with and leave the bin's down the side of the garage as they are now.

One gets the bins out of sight, the other gives me 10m2 decking area, 2-3ft off the floor, overlooking my neighbours kitchen window and my garage roof, but I'm unsure how high a privacy fence I could build here

If I was to fence this section off, were would the level be for the permitted development of a structure (fence), as over 3m tall you need planning permission, on my boundary (position (1) in the photo below) or (2) the level of my garden and new patio if I extended with decking to the same height, would the 3m height restriction start from position (2), as a 6ft fence panel will effectively be 8-9ft tall, were are if I can only put a 6ft tall fence there at decking height it will be 3ft tall, not exactly a privacy fence.

or build a retaining wall, at position (3) excavate to my garage base level and keep with the original plan of a bin store

Sketch Photo to try explain


Then Aerial plan


Photo from streetview, (between my garage you can see the mound of earth, in green weed colour


Admin note: this post has had its images recovered from a money grabbing photo hosting site and reinstated  Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

humm

decking must not exceed 30cm above ground level, if it does, then u need planning permission.
http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/permissio...s/decking/

might have to install a retaining wall  

Id say do the retaining wall regardless to avoid future disputes
Speak to neighbour, surely they cant rely on your garden to hold their garage up, They should contribute to the cost of a retaining wall along the boundary line, At work
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winner by default of the tractor vs caravan race

Will investigate the costs of the boundary wall

The decking would be floor level, well at one side it would  Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

u can always cheat the planning laws.
Just build the decking in two parts.
part #1 is on the elevated land.
Part #2 is on the lower land and not actually attached to part #1, just butted up against it.
you can tell the planning officer that part is a table

Nothing they can do about that, and no expensive retaining wall.
Simples. 

once we have the shed taken down tomorrow and looked at the open plan/space we will have a better idea how this space could be used.

i'm thinking of bracing it with a row of concrete fence posts, gravel boards and back fill it with cement, its not moved sine the 1970 so should be quite stable

edit. now thinking railway sleepers  Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

chicken george wrote:

Id say do the retaining wall regardless to avoid future disputes
Speak to neighbour, surely they cant rely on your garden to hold their garage up, They should contribute to the cost of a retaining wall along the boundary line,

 Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

Basically neighbours are a nuisance, who would live right up next to one given the choice? a reason why all those high up MPs and judges etc have neighbours who live no closer than 3 miles away from their gated mansion.
The more houses they are expected to fit on a piece of land now, I believe its 20 per acre? is why, unless youre on kissing and hugging terms with your neighbours disputes over what and who can do what will only get worse.
The houses are so close now you cant even get a ladder up to maintain yours without going on next doors property and standing in their flower beds, a 1 metre gap in some cases between supposedly detached houses, this means several hundred pounds to have it scaffolded to do anything more than a step ladder height from the ground.

The neighbours garage seems to be above mean ground level, therefore the support of its foundations are his responsibility, had he been on the high side of the hill above you then Dorsets would apply. my PC is slightly to the right of Genghis
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