It’s taken a seven page heritage statement and a two page officer’s report but finally Charlotte Montgomery has won permission for a Wickes £75.99 rear gate for her home.

Mrs Montgomery had to go through the rigours of the planning system to enable her to insert the gate into the rear wall of her Back Hill, Ely, home.

In her application to East Cambs Council she referred to a law that covers “parts of a dwelling house fronting an open space”. In her case it’s her rear garden that backs onto Cherry Hill Park and is one of four identical terraced houses built around 1910.

The rear of all the homes have gardens that back onto the park and Mrs Montgomery pointed out that two of them already have gates in their garden walls.

Because the property is also in a conservation area, it needed planning consent for the gate.

“We believe the addition of a gate will have no negative impact on the heritage asset,” she told planners.

It helps, she said, that her home is “positioned behind a large tree, concealing it slightly and therefore minimises the impact of the change.”

In a lengthy explanation of how the gate will blend in, she adds that its height will be designed to match the height of the existing brick wall “meaning that the profile of the top line remains the same”.

She also promised to use only a “reputable tradesman” to install it.

Happily the planning officer concurred, noting an additional gate along Back Hill “will not result in harm being caused to the significance of the conservation area or the public open space”.

The chief planning officer Rebecca Saunt agreed it was an open and shut case and approved it.