The situation: We moved into our house two years ago, and at the time commented on the fact that a telegraph pole is sited in the back garden. We were informed of the extant Wayleave Agreement (which pays us a whole £12 a year for the land) and left it at that.
We now want to get the garden landscaped, but there’s this ****** great pole in the middle of it! It only needs to go about 10 feet to be sited on a Council grass verge by the road. I’ve contacted the Electricity supplier but they’re saying that as we didn’t object to it at the time of purchase they’re under no obligation to move it. The guy quoted something about the 1985 Wayleave Act but of course that meant nothing to me.
Anyway, I’ve been searching the Govt Legislation pages for the last hour or so with no help. I’ve found a 1990 Electricity Act but it’s all gobbledegook to me.
Does anyone know if we have the power to make them shift it or is it the Distribution company’s prerogative?
A quick answer would be great as they’re ringing back on Thursday.
Thanks (in anticipation)
J.
I am not a lawyer, but judging by this information from the DTi website, you have the right to terminate the wayleave agreement under the Electricity Act 1989. Assuming your wayleave agreement is a voluntary one it will probably state whether you need to give the electricity company notice (apparantly most are either 6 months, or 12 months). Once you’ve terminated the agreement, than you have to give the company a second notice that you wish them to take their big post off your land. Hence this is referred to as a “two notice” process.
http://www.dti.gov.uk/energy/leg_and_reg/consents/wayleaveguide.pdf
Looking at the legislation, you can ask the electricity company to take the post away when either (A) the Wayleave expires (B) you terminate it in accordance with the terms of the Wayleave agreement or © when the ownership of the land changes.
The third criteria doesn’t count because you didn’t complain at the time and, because you’ve accepted the £12 you’ve an implicit agreement anyway. You should be able to terminate the agreement under the second criteria though. Again, it all depends on the exact nature of your wayleave agreement.
It might be worth noting that, if the electricity company don’t want to move their post they can appeal to the Secretary of State and might be able to get a compulsory wayleave. Then you’re stuffed.
Still - the upshot of it is, find the actual Wayleave agreement - if you haven’t got it whoever did your conveyancing when you bought the house should be able to provide it. That will have details of how (and I suppose if) the agreement can be terminated. Then terminate it, then ask the electricity company to take their post away. In all honesty, you may want to get a property lawyer.
Thanks very much for this chiefgnome - I’d not have thought of the DTI.
I’ve scanned through the link and I think we have a case here. Being as it wouldn’t be difficult to move it, I’m sure we can negotiate cancellation of the wayleave agreement - it just might take a little time. I’ll print it out and read through it properly.
Incidentally, although we received the cheque from the company, we never cashed it as it wasn’t worth the effort of a special trip to the bank (we both work). Nonetheless, I guess that means nothing in the grand scheme of things.
J.
Be aware that removal of the pole may involve damage to existing landscaping, fences etc; make sure that you are informed of the date of removal and prepare yourself to document the entire process (before/after photos, video, etc).
I say this because the electricity company replaced a pole on a neighbour’s allotment and they drove their machinery right across his plot, destroying all of his growing vegetables and badly compacting the soil, also the process of replacing the pole itself resulted in large amounts of subsoil being brought to the surface.
Just an update and another thanks: we spoke to the distribution company again and mentioned the 1989 Act. They are willing to move the pole six feet into the hedge bordering our land - which seems like a good compromise.
Mangetout, they’ll be moving the pole before the landscaping work so the mess won’t, hopefully, be an issue. We will take before and after pics though as you suggest in case they damage anything important.
J.