Fence panel replacement in Cheltenham

This is for you if

• Two or three panels went over in a gale and the rest of the run is still standing straight
• The panels have thinned and silvered until you can see the neighbour's shed through them, but the concrete posts are still solid
• Years of one-off repairs have left a run of mismatched 5ft and 6ft panels and you want the boundary to match again
• You want tired lap panels swapped for closeboard and the concrete posts left where they are
• Panels keep bowing out into the garden and you want to know whether the panel or the post is at fault
• You want the old panels loaded and gone the same day, so nothing stacks up behind the shed waiting for a tip run

What the job includes

• A push test and a screwdriver check at the ground line on every post in the run before we quote, so you know whether you are buying panels or whole bays
• Panels matched to your existing height and bay width, including closeboard built on site where an old run does not divide into standard 1.83m panels
• Pressure-treated panels as standard rather than dip-treated, with a gravel board under any bay where the panel would otherwise sit on wet soil
• Every cut edge sealed with end-grain preservative before the panel goes up, because cutting a factory-treated panel opens the timber back up
• Concrete post grooves scraped clear of moss, old nails and broken fixings so the new panel seats square rather than bowing
• Old panels broken down, loaded and taken away on the day, with the tip charge written into the quote rather than added afterwards

Planning and the rules that apply

Swapping panels into existing posts sits inside Class A, Part 2, Schedule 2 of the GPDO 2015, which permits maintenance, improvement and alteration as well as fresh erection, up to 2 metres above ground level, or 1 metre where the fence is adjacent to a highway used by vehicular traffic. Two exceptions bite in Cheltenham: Class A is switched off entirely within the curtilage of a listed building or where your boundary adjoins one, at any height, and permitted development rights can be removed by an Article 4 direction or by a condition attached to the original planning permission for a newer estate. If your run already stands taller than those limits, or the old fence is coming out in a conservation area, do not assume like-for-like replacement is covered: these are national rules, local ones can differ, and a Lawful Development Certificate from Cheltenham Borough Council gives a binding answer.