U.K. Power

[CJS]

Have U.K. power putting up some new poles at the moment Dispite telling them to keep to the tramlines they continue to go anywhere they want to all over the fields leaving6inch racks They have even been on a field with no poles We had some done 2years ago who made no mess in October but this lot are completely different and don’t give a damn What can I do as you cannot stop access but they are really peeing me off

 

[Cowcalf]

get a drone to photo it.

 

[Exfarmer]

I would stop access by whatever means , then wait for some one who has any power to come and sort it out. Only believe anything you are given in writing.
You should employ an agent and the DNO has to pick up their bill

 

[kiwi pom]

Cant be that hard to sort? There more be some kind of access agreement saying what's acceptable. I assume you at least talked to the site foreman before they started? What did they say when you bollocked them about making a mess?
Ring the company and play hell to the bosses, do it right and you should get something out of them.

Don't get an agent ffs, typical UK answer to everything, get someone else to sort it, its nothing to do with me. Then wonder why there's so many people making a fortune out of other peoples work

 

[nick...]

They are a bloody nuisance.about ten years ago they appeared with a unimog with a basket on it and drove about 300 yards across freshly planted rape leaving ruts about 8inches deep.looked at those wheelmarks till following harvest.driver got a severe bollocking and he drove over a bank with a newly planted hedge on it to get there and thought he was on another farmers land.i did get an apology for that for all the good it did.last week a man came into yard with a uk power networks van and proceeded to nail signs onto posts stating they where electric cable posts.yes really.i asked what he was doing and who gave him permission to just wander about.he said he could not find anyone even though he parked outside my mums house and she had door open.he then complained when my puppy barked at him so I told him to F off and he left.really could not make this up.
Nick...

 

[Exfarmer]

The trouble is most of the work is done by outside contractors, who give not a toss about anything

 

[l'ordinary bonville]

Any damage that they cause can be reclaimed

Get a land agent to sort it out...at their expense

 

[Yale]

You can’t stop access however what about locking the gate once they are in there.

 

[D14]

Have U.K. power putting up some new poles at the moment Dispite telling them to keep to the tramlines they continue to go anywhere they want to all over the fields leaving6inch racks They have even been on a field with no poles We had some done 2years ago who made no mess in October but this lot are completely different and don’t give a damn What can I do as you cannot stop access but they are really peeing me off

Had this last year. They turned up unannounced and drove a HGV into a grass paddock and got it stuck. We refused to tow them out and refused them access (blocked the gateway) until they’d paid £3000 for the damage. They then had to hire Crouch in to remove the HGV. The people on the ground didn’t give a crap but the management certainly did and came out to site to apologise personally. We had the money transferred the same day!

 

[kiwi pom]

Had this last year. They turned up unannounced and drove a HGV into a grass paddock and got it stuck. We refused to tow them out and refused them access (blocked the gateway) until they’d paid £3000 for the damage. They then had to hire Crouch in to remove the HGV. The people on the ground didn’t give a crap but the management certainly did and came out to site to apologise personally. We had the money transferred the same day!

There you go, just need to stand up to them. No need to line an agents pockets.
They deal with these companies every day, might see the farmer every other year. Whose side do you reckon they're on?
Purely from a H&S perspective they should be contacting the owner before entering a field. They'd soon be trying to sue you if a mob of bulls put them over the hedge.

 

[Al R]

Western Power last year in December had to put some new poles on a valley/moorland at the bottom of some rented land I have. They drove the 20t 360 alongside the hedge in the field, went down a serious embankment which is to steep to walk down, cutting flat points as he went down the gorge, he tracked across 300m of bog and put in a few poles.

Not a single mark anywhere! The only time I’ve been impressed with them mind but it does happen..

 

[chaffcutter]

Speak to their wayleaves officer and get them out to look at the damage while it’s fresh, they have to pay you for any crop loss and remedial work to put the ground right afterwards like subsoiling or whatever you tell them it will take to get it right.

Our ( female) local one is very fair, they would rather leave you satisfied as they know that they will need you co-operation in future.

 

[traineefarmer]

Don't get an agent ffs, typical UK answer to everything, get someone else to sort it, its nothing to do with me. Then wonder why there's so many people making a fortune out of other peoples work

I'm no fan of agents and consultants, but in this case it is often the only way to deal with the multinational bureaucratic behemoths that operate the UK's utilities. We have recently had to deal with new underground cables and sewer repairs. The men doing the work are often contractors who have been given a grid reference and a date and no instructions to contact landowners as that should have been done by surveyors months before.

On both occasions we used a well known local land agent who got us some useful compo and his bill paid by the utility.

 

[Still Farming]

Have U.K. power putting up some new poles at the moment Dispite telling them to keep to the tramlines they continue to go anywhere they want to all over the fields leaving6inch racks They have even been on a field with no poles We had some done 2years ago who made no mess in October but this lot are completely different and don’t give a damn What can I do as you cannot stop access but they are really peeing me off

Where is your land agent on this.
Good compo claim due???

 

[kiwi pom]

I'm no fan of agents and consultants, but in this case it is often the only way to deal with the multinational bureaucratic behemoths that operate the UK's utilities. We have recently had to deal with new underground cables and sewer repairs. The men doing the work are often contractors who have been given a grid reference and a date and no instructions to contact landowners as that should have been done by surveyors months before.

On both occasions we used a well known local land agent who got us some useful compo and his bill paid by the utility.

I think you could find the right department and put your case for compensation forward if you put your mind to it.
If not and they only deal with agents it kind of proves my point that its a bit of a fiddle and they're in it together.
Think how much more you'd get if you cut the agent out.

 

[Happy hillbily]

I had a telecoms mast put in which was trouble right from the start, promised the world, got nothing. Got a land agent involved, but they still wern't interested in sorting the problems .
So I put a padlock on the mast compound gate, and a sign with my phone number and a short message telling them no further access untill problems sorted and rent paid (was 23 months in arrears by the time we sorted everything).

Firstly i got threats of legal action because i was restricting access in breach of the contract, but when i pointed there contractors had breached most of the contract, things changed pretty quickly.
The complaints never got to the top of the ladder, so they were not aware of any issues.
If possible lock them out, or in !
And get your complaints af far up the ladder as you possibly can, contractors dont like their cages rattled from above .

 

[Goweresque]

I think you could find the right department and put your case for compensation forward if you put your mind to it.

This is the trouble - finding the right person to speak to in these organisations is like trying to juggle eels. I suspect that if you tried to do it yourself and even got to the right department they'd refuse to deal with you because you're not the 'the right channels' ie an agent they can twist round their little fingers.

 

[traineefarmer]

I think you could find the right department and put your case for compensation forward if you put your mind to it.
If not and they only deal with agents it kind of proves my point that its a bit of a fiddle and they're in it together.
Think how much more you'd get if you cut the agent out.

It's absolutely a fiddle and you would get no more compensation as I believe they have a statutory maximum payout "plus costs". An agent knows what those maximums are and how to claim them from the outset rather than get fobbed off.

 

[jep]

farmer by us parked tractor in gate way some in field some outside and went
home 1hour later big boss out and sorted