Anglian Water Pipeline

rhsl

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Suffolk
Same here, with National grid doing surveys as well for the Bramford Twinstead power lines the surveys where doubled, god knows what that all costs.
We'll be able to start a dicking around with diggers thread again.
Dormouse traps in the hedgerows was a bit of a laugh , apparently a neighbour put mouse droppings in the boxes.
 

Exfarmer

Member
Location
Bury St Edmunds
Anyone else got the joy of Anglian water putting a new water pipeline through their farm , its running from Grantham to Colchester .
They want to start digging trial trenches this month!
Be afraid , be very afraid, if things have not changed since I had one.
Buy a camera, a drone, and a voice recorder. Do not allow one conversation to go unrecorded and get the best agent money can buy.
Anglian and their contractors are the biggest sheisters you will ever find, do not trust them one minute.
Also you will find, our caravan dwelling friends will be very close behind.
Take pictures of everything they do and especially before they start. Lock all gates and only allow them in when you are there. Measure the working strip that they lay out, ours was supposed to be 24 metres the actual was over 36.
Do not be afraid to stand up to them! If they take the pee, they will, lock the gates preferably with their kit inside
 
We had a big Wessex Water pipe through here years ago. The cardinal rule is never let them do a thing without getting it in writing and having it checked by your agent (with them paying his fees).
They were our best mates when we had a spell of wet weather and they wanted to just use our concrete tracks for access, but the minute they moved on, their manager wouldn't even speak to us and told the agent any damage was our fault for letting them in.. It wasn't a big deal, but his attitude taught us a lesson.
 
It just reminded me of one incident when they got a pair of 360s stuck up to the cab in our meadow. I came home from the pub to find everything floodlit and a pair of huge army tank recovery trucks pulling them straight through their corridor boundary, across our waterlogged field and up onto the A31.
I think it was the only time I ever got angry enough to swear at anyone, and I'm proud to say their manager called me the rudest person he'd ever met (which I very much doubt.)
So again, don't stand for anything at all. :)
 

rhsl

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Suffolk
Thanks , I feared as much , my father had a gas pipeline through the farm in the 60's and he had to watch them all the time, doesn't look like like much has changed.
Have agent on board who is already acting for farmers, think our neighbours and us will all be using the same land drainage consultant to help us.
 

Exfarmer

Member
Location
Bury St Edmunds
When we were first approached they wanted to do the job in a certain time frame, so we changed our very complex rotation ( potatoes 100 acres our own, onions 100acres independent company, a variety of herbs covering 150 acres sugar beet etc.) this all had to be shifted to other areas and cereals covering the land which mile of pipe would pass through plus the poor pig contractor. The pipe literally split the farm in two.
So come spring when work was expected to start AWA decided to put work off for 6 months and no compensation.
The first thing we knew work was starting was the following January 9 months later when my observant tractor driver reported a strange tractor stuck in the middle of a ploughed field which had just received 2 inches of rain. It was supposed to be marking out the line of the pipe, but was at least 50 metres away from the line.
Shall we say , I was a little unimpressed, that tractor was stuck there up to its belly for over two months as I most certainly was not going to allow any recovery vehicle anywhere near.
Much of the land had recently been comprehensively drained. anglian then sent in there own drainers , before the job started they ripped through our irrigation system multiple times which were repaired repeatedly until we did the job ourselves as they were absolutely incapable of repairing water pipes. After all how would a water company know how to do such work?🤔
We ended up billing them for a half million gallons of lost water.
If I had the job again I would insist only my own men would be allowed to do the job and I am 100% certain it would have been done for a tenth of the cost
 

Heathland

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lincolnshire
@rhsl
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Welcome to my world,they have got the pipe in the ground now and covered over, with the sodding air vents washout valves installed aswell.
That wasn't fun sorting that all out,they didn't think we would mine all this iron work stuck randomly along the length of the pipeline.
To top it off they won't reinstate the fields until they have stripped all the ground to Grantham.
I'm on the very first section.
Looking like end of March at the earliest,not going to holding my breath on that one.
Oh yes we have had all the bulls**t you wouldn't believe with nesting birds Roman/Saxon/Bronze age remains
The very first question I asked is what are you going to do with all the surplus limestone.
I got a very blank look,it's a big bloody pipe, its a lot of stone........... MY stone.
Had all this with the Fina oil line back in the 80's back then there wasn't all the health and safety wildlife BS.
I'll post some pictures tomorrow what it looks like now😭😭😭
 

Against_the_grain

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
S.E
We have got this water pipe supposed to come through some of our land. I'm not sure if we have to let them do it or not but at no point has any form of compensation been mentioned? They have wanted to come and do test holes and all sorts, despite the fact that we havent actually agreed any terms at any point. All seems a bit of a cowboy operation to me
 

sahara

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Somerset
We had a big gas pipeline put through the middle of the farm in the 60's, followed by Wessex Water in the 1980's (That was also Docwra). The water pipe was then relined in about 2012 the contractor was Daniels.
I can only echo all of the advice given above. Don't give them even a millimetre. Get the smoothest slickest most ruthless agent possible to work for you, it helps if several of you along the pipeline have the same guy, and through them claim every thing you possibly can, and don't be kind with your rates.
The compo from our last encounter bought our KV TineSeeder!
 
@rhsl
View attachment 1007926View attachment 1007927View attachment 1007929
Welcome to my world,they have got the pipe in the ground now and covered over, with the sodding air vents washout valves installed aswell.
That wasn't fun sorting that all out,they didn't think we would mine all this iron work stuck randomly along the length of the pipeline.
To top it off they won't reinstate the fields until they have stripped all the ground to Grantham.
I'm on the very first section.
Looking like end of March at the earliest,not going to holding my breath on that one.
Oh yes we have had all the bulls**t you wouldn't believe with nesting birds Roman/Saxon/Bronze age remains
The very first question I asked is what are you going to do with all the surplus limestone.
I got a very blank look,it's a big bloody pipe, its a lot of stone........... MY stone.
Had all this with the Fina oil line back in the 80's back then there wasn't all the health and safety wildlife BS.
I'll post some pictures tomorrow what it looks like now😭😭😭
The wash outs and air valves SHOULD have been clearly shown on the original plan accompanying the Statutory Notice - and their position discussed and agreed with you.
Please tell me that they DID serve a Notice before work started - 3 months if I remember correctly.
Please also tell me that they did not work on your land during winter months.
As others have said, get a good agent and keep a comprehensive diary.

In my day the majority of water company surveyors were professional and tried their best to prevent the worst excesses of contractors. I fear that these days so much of that work has been outsourced and many ‘surveyors’ have no experience of cross country pipelines.

Perhaps I should come out of retirement…………?
 

steveR

Member
Mixed Farmer
Thanks , I feared as much , my father had a gas pipeline through the farm in the 60's and he had to watch them all the time, doesn't look like like much has changed.
Have agent on board who is already acting for farmers, think our neighbours and us will all be using the same land drainage consultant to help us.
I do wonder whether it is worth 2-3 farmers engaging someone to monitor all works on a full time basis in such a case? A student or the like, issued with a video/still camera and radio or phone?

As said here and elsewhere on similiar threads, the Contractors cannot be trusted one iota.... ever!
 
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We had a big gas pipeline put through the middle of the farm in the 60's, followed by Wessex Water in the 1980's (That was also Docwra). The water pipe was then relined in about 2012 the contractor was Daniels.
I can only echo all of the advice given above. Don't give them even a millimetre. Get the smoothest slickest most ruthless agent possible to work for you, it helps if several of you along the pipeline have the same guy, and through them claim every thing you possibly can, and don't be kind with your rates.
The compo from our last encounter bought our KV TineSeeder!
Daniels! Ye Gods, you have my heartfelt sympathy.
 

steveR

Member
Mixed Farmer
We have got this water pipe supposed to come through some of our land. I'm not sure if we have to let them do it or not but at no point has any form of compensation been mentioned? They have wanted to come and do test holes and all sorts, despite the fact that we havent actually agreed any terms at any point. All seems a bit of a cowboy operation to me
Refuse them permission to come on your property, in writing.

They can serve you with a legal notice (probably) but that costs time and money, and they will still have to pay your Agents fees and compo, when/if they come on. Bill them for your time too... ;)
 

Exfarmer

Member
Location
Bury St Edmunds
We had a big gas pipeline put through the middle of the farm in the 60's, followed by Wessex Water in the 1980's (That was also Docwra). The water pipe was then relined in about 2012 the contractor was Daniels.
I can only echo all of the advice given above. Don't give them even a millimetre. Get the smoothest slickest most ruthless agent possible to work for you, it helps if several of you along the pipeline have the same guy, and through them claim every thing you possibly can, and don't be kind with your rates.
The compo from our last encounter bought our KV TineSeeder!
The compensation we received would sound like a lot to many people, but the truth is that I would not do it again willingly for four times the money. The cost of crossing a 20 metre wide ancient monument probably exceeded our total compensation.
Should have mentioned about the air vents and wash out valves. These will not be placed where thry have negotiated but wherever the contractors think suits them . Be careful you do not need man holes in the middle of 100 acre fields and their is no need. Stand firm and if necessary just move any odd valves etc to their correct locations. I had to blockade vehicles in place to ensure the job followed the agreed route
 

Exfarmer

Member
Location
Bury St Edmunds
The wash outs and air valves SHOULD have been clearly shown on the original plan accompanying the Statutory Notice - and their position discussed and agreed with you.
Please tell me that they DID serve a Notice before work started - 3 months if I remember correctly.
Please also tell me that they did not work on your land during winter months.
As others have said, get a good agent and keep a comprehensive diary.

In my day the majority of water company surveyors were professional and tried their best to prevent the worst excesses of contractors. I fear that these days so much of that work has been outsourced and many ‘surveyors’ have no experience of cross country pipelines.

Perhaps I should come out of retirement…………?
You must have been in the business long ago!
 

sahara

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Somerset
That was what we had to watch for all the time, the contractor would do exactly what suited them and what they could get away with. They would tell you black was white if it was to their advantage!
Be firm, be civil, record EVERYTHING, breathe deeply ........ and then claim for everything and more.
 

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