'BT installed telegraph pole on my driveway while I was at work - I am furious'
A woman has said she is furious as BT installed a new telegraph pole on her driveway while she was at work - and claims that it partly blocks the area, making it difficult for family and friends to park there.
Chris McNarney, from Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire, complained after a bigger pole was installed outside her home to replace an existing one. However, the new one is now located on the driveway, rather than sitting in front of an adjacent wall.
It was installed on June 19 and the case was raised with the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) by Cllr Lyndsey Downes. This followed a letter in September from BT Openreach that said the pole would remain.
However, after being contacted by LDRS, BT said they are reassessing the pole's future. The 63-year-old resident, of Sanctuary Way, Grimsby, has said she wants her driveway free from the pole obstruction and worries it will devalue her house too.
The pole outside her home in Sanctuary Way, Grimsby (Chris McNarney)
London flat for rent for £1,400 a month with bed tucked away in kitchen cupboard
She told GrimsbyLive: "If there's somebody near my other wall, it's awkward to get in. My daughters have bigger cars and can't fit." I think it's going to devalue the house as well, because if I eventually sell, because I've lost my husband, it's going to put someone off."
Ms McNarney, a widow of six years, said she had no real notice before the new pole was put up and discovered the new situation after returning home from work one afternoon. She says she was told a year before by a BT representative that the previous pole was going to be replaced and asked for a note to be passed on to ensure it did not also encroach on her driveway. She said the prior pole had been there for as long as she could remember, and she had "caught it numerous times" trying to get into the drive.
Ms McNarney also said the new pole is a larger one, she believes it to be an "industrial pole" not normally found in residential areas. She said a supervisor of fibre cables being installed in the ground shortly after the new pole's installation had identified it as such and suggested it would get sorted. She added: "I said to them it's not acceptable, because you're over other people's property."
She continued to pursue the issue with BT and received a letter in September which advised that the company "found no legal reason to remove, replace or re-site the pole you've asked about". The letter stated the pole had been placed within a square metre of its previous incarnation. This meant "there's no legal right, under current rules, to object to this apparatus", it went on to say.
Ms McNarney said what "really angered" her was that the company would not be "prepared to do anything". The LDRS understands it was contractors who installed the new pole and a BT engineer took new photographs last week as part of a new assessment.
A BT spokesperson told GrimsbyLive: "We’re aware of the impact our equipment can have and the balance between cost-effectiveness, aesthetics and safety can be difficult to achieve. We've visited the property to take photographs of the pole which have been sent to our poling team so they can reexamine the positioning of the pole.
"W'd like to reassure the homeowner that the process will be completed as quickly as possible and that they will be kept updated." Following the assessment, a decision will be made on if the pole stays in place, or gets moved.
"I know things have to be done," said Ms McNarney about the need for pole replacement, "but it's just how it's been done and just plonked there it just makes it an issue".
"Not just for me, but for my family as well, and friends, who've got bigger cars." She added that parking space on the road itself was limited, partly due to yellow line restrictions. The Mirror has contacted BT for an updated statement.
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