Most residents maintain a suitable "boundary treatment" such as an open frontage, native hedge, low wall, or low wall backed by a native hedge but we are now seeing a lot of unsuitable frontages such as board fencing and high walls which degrade the rural character of the village. The more suburban the village looks, the more likely planners are to regard it as a suburb of Bristol and allow building on the fields around the village.
Belmont Drive before destruction of hedges
If you have an existing property with an unsuitable frontage, you can improve the environment by replacing board fencing or an ugly wall with native hedging, replacing browned out or overgrown conifers with native hedge, or planting native hedging behind an existing low fence or wall. A plant like fuchsia can climb up an existing fence and over the top, making it look less bad.
Erecting a fence or wall over 1m high facing the road high requires planning permission and several property owners have been actioned by North Somerset Council for failing to do that. Because the landscape strategy for the area is to conserve and enhance its rural character, the only frontages NSC will approve are: native hedge, a low natural stone wall backed by native hedge or an open frontage.