Electric Gates for Essex Homes: Salt Air, Conservation Areas and Access
Why the right electric gate depends on where in Essex your home is, from the estuary to the north-west villages.
Essex covers everything from estuary towns and commuter suburbs to some of the most protected villages in the East of England, and the right electric gate for one end of the county can be the wrong one for the other. Before choosing a style, it is worth thinking about where your home sits and what the gate will have to put up with.
On the estuary: salt air
Around Southend, Canvey Island and the Thames estuary, salt-laden air attacks untreated steel and works its way into hinge pins and control boxes. Hot-dip galvanising before powder coating, stainless fixings and sealed enclosures are worth specifying from the start. Fabricators who make electric gates in Essex will build this into the specification rather than treating it as an extra.
In the commuter belt: who is at the gate?
In towns like Brentwood, Billericay and Chelmsford, many households are out all day while deliveries and tradespeople arrive. App control with a video intercom means you can see who is at the gate from anywhere, let someone in without handing over a fob, and check the gate has closed. A Chelmsford electric gate installer can add this to new gates or to an existing automated system.
In the north-west: consent first
Saffron Walden, Thaxted and Halstead have large conservation areas and many listed buildings, so consent is needed more often than people expect. Where a gate will not be approved, automatic bollards that lower flush with the drive are a genuine alternative, leaving the frontage looking unchanged.
Close to the road: the highway rule
A gate must not swing outwards over a public highway or footway. On older properties that open close to the road, that rules out an outward-opening gate and points towards inward hanging or a sliding gate, which travels parallel to the boundary and needs no swing space at all. Sliding gates also cope better with drives that slope towards the entrance.
Questions to ask before you choose
- Will the steelwork be galvanised before it is powder coated?
- Does the gate need to open inwards, or would sliding suit the entrance better?
- Is the property listed or in a conservation area?
- How will you control access when you are not at home?
- Will the installation be tested to BS EN 12453 and documented at handover?
The right gate is the one designed for where it will stand. For more on gates, fencing and garden structures, see our landscaping category.
