A COUPLE whose wooden decking sparked a planning row have now been given council backing for their home improvement.
Jeanette Delee and husband Patrick installed the decking outside their home in Bouldergate, Marsden, last summer.
But their neighbour complained the couple could peer over his lawn if they stood on the 4ft-high decking.
Kirklees Council officers told the Delees they needed planning permission for the structure, because it was a development between a house and a highway.
The couple were surprised that Gatehead was classed as a highway. Now they have received permission - but at a cost of almost £500.
Mrs Delee said: "I'm overjoyed it is all sorted out now. But it has been absolutely outrageous."
To obtain permission the couple had to employ an architect to measure the decking and draw up plans - although it was already built.
"Then he did all the paperwork and sent it in," she said. "It cost £110 for the notices to be put on the lamp- posts and about £300 to £400 for the architect's plans. This has cost me a lot in money and stress."
Mrs Delee, who is 42, said she would sit out and celebrate when the weather was warmer.
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