Anybody have a clue about electricity poles in your garden?

It a long shot but hoping someone just might know more than I do, not difficult! about electricity poles and the legislation regarding them.
To my horror I had a visit from somebody to do with Scottish Power yesterday. According to him the electricity pole which is quite close to my house ( I am at the end of the line and live out in the country) needs replaced. Have no idea how old it is but have lived here for 23 years and it was not in its first youth when I moved here. I was hoping it would “ see me out” as my granny used to say.
The pole currently has 1 stay and a transformer which according to the guy may have PC B in it so that is being replaced along with the pole which under the newer regs needs 2 flaming stays!
There is one huge problem with all of this. Probably back in the 70s a large flower bed was created round said pole. Move on to when we moved in and I planted some of my favourite shrubs in said flower bed.
There are some real beauties of Azaleas, Rhododendrons large now Unbrella Pine,Camellias, Magnolias, Liquid Amber, the list is endless and all of the above are way too big to move. There is a chance the current pole could have a 20 ft block of concrete at its base. Another huge hole would have to be dug for another stay in the flowerbed, a complete nightmare.Let’s put it this way and the guy fromScottish Power agreed that basically the whole flowerbed would be wrecked.
I have no idea where I stand in all of this. To replace the Umbrella Pine alone would cost over £1500 which I do not see Scottish Power stumping up for. There is another flowerbed still in the line of the poles which could be used to site the new pole which would not be quite so awful but again I would lose Camellias, Cotinus, a huge Ceanothus, plus roses etc etc. There is plenty of room to site the new pole in the grass still in line with the poles but the guy says the distance from there is too great from it to the house.
Does anybody have a clue about these things or know where I might get some information as currently Scottish Power can just blind me with what they say can and cannot be done which of course will be to their advantage! I have previous experience of Scottish Water trying to ride rough shod over me. Luckily I knew some of the legislation regarding digging close to enormous trees so they had to change their plans. My name was mud but saved my trees!

 

Maybe try this?

Scots law is different from English so maybe ask these people…


https://www.justanswer.co.uk/sip/scots-law?mkwid=s_dc&pcrid=585493969372&pkw=scots law property&pmt=b&plc=&cmpid=16450554141&agid=135216352218&fiid=&tgtid=kwd-852837518299&ntw=g&dvc=c&r=ppc|ga|18|16450554141|135216352218&JPKW=scots law property&JPDC=S&JPST=&JPAD=585493969372&JPMT=b&JPNW=g&JPAF=txt&JPRC=1&JPCD=&JPOP=&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIu-bfq_u4iAMVRZJQBh0dQy-YEAMYASAAEgKFRfD_BwE

 

Oh that's awful, hailbopp! We've got a pylon right next to a corner of the house, which I've been disguising for years with climbers in big pots. Apparently it would cost in the region of €1k to have it moved. That wouldn't impact my garden , though.
Can't you insist that they dig up the most valuable plants with huge rootballs (I know Rhodis and Camellias can be treated this way, perhaps Pines and Magnolias less so), stored on and wrapped in tarpaulins and then re-planted afterwards? At their cost! Trouble is, their machinery is going to crucify and compact the soil all around the site...not ideal for fibrous-rooted shrubs. Could you persuade them to leave it be, sign a disclaimer or something?

 

Casting my mind back I recall something about wayleave agreements when it comes to electricity poles etc on your property. I have no idea if this will have a bearing on your problem, but it might answer a few questions.
How To Check For a Wayleave on Any Property - Property Rescue

 

I will certainly fight tooth and nail before letting the bug…s loose in my garden. Not being in my first youth I cannot even say it’s not a big deal and can plant new plants.Two of the Azaleas are irreplaceable and I have had them for over 30 years! This is one of them and it has the most gorgeous perfume.
You can just see the damned pole behind and to the right of the Azalea. It has a huge Clematis Marie Boiselotte growing up it. Not a bad idea @noisette47 but they will need some kind of JCB to dig the plants out. The Rhododendrons and Azaleas might have a chance likewise the Camellias altho the are about 10 ft in diameter. The Liquidambar is a good 15 ft tall so no chance and the umbrella Pine is around 10ft. Thanks @AnniD I will have a look at the link.

 

I'm assuming this is a wooden pole?
We dont have many electricity poles but we have lots of telegraph poles and they just put them in with a giant auger type thing.
No tons of concrete required.

I find it surprising if you are the end of the line they need all these stays, maybe one on one side, but then health and safety these days just makes everything stupid, even though in the first storm the whole lots falls down.

 

Sorry but this is many years ago but...we had a pole in our garden when we moved in. We didn't do anything about it because at the time it wasn't a problem/issue. Years later it stopped us from doing some work and contacted the then people and they said we were allowed some money for the pole being in our garden for all those decades (ended up being pennies) but they would move the pole and do new stays outside of our property.
As I said this did happen some decades ago but we never paid for any of the work. We were fortunate that we didn't at the time have any lovely plants that could be an issue.

 

Thank you @On the Levels. How I wish we could have a similar scenario. There is some “rule”…. maybe, about the maximum distance the pole can be from the house. I am being told it is 30 ft but this is where I am trying to find out the facts or whether I am being told bull you know what to make their life easy. After my recent experience of solicitors trying to charge the earth for a 1 line codicil to my will I am not inclined to look to them for advice. I could end up with a wrecked flowerbed and eye watering bill to boot.

 

A total scunner @hailbopp, and sadly- I can't help. Not stayed in any house long enough to have the problem.
I know what you mean about these companies just 'blinding you with science' in that way though.
Have you any 'rare plant' [nudge nudge, wink wink] that could magically mean they can't touch anything near it? In the same vein - any similar 'rare wildlife' nesting ?

I can understand the reluctance to contact a lawyer, but would Citizen's Advice be worth a shot?

 

Yes @pete it is a wooden pole. Looks and sounds pretty solid to me but as you mentioned , health and safety. The person who came out agreed 1 stay is plenty but new regulations require 2, fabulous and covered in some hellish yellow plastic sleeve…gets better and better. The pole carries a transformers which I suppose could be quite heavy. Wish it was a simple job like BT. We had a new pole put up when getting super fast broadband installed about 18 months ago. They pushed a pole into the verge with an auger. It took about 15 minutes and not much mess. What is deemed necessary here is a whole different ball game I am afraid!

 

I know that wayleaves grant the company the right to enter your land, but I doubt very much whether they are granted permission to trash the personal property thereon.

Our house sits on a boundary line, meaning that in order to maintain those of our gutters, windows, paintwork, chimneys and tv aerial that face our neighbour’s land we have to send workmen into our neighbour’s garden. The law gives us the right to do that. But if one of those workmen were to put their ladder through my neighbour’s conservatory I think that either the workman or we would be required to pay for the damage and make good the mess.

 

Thanks @Tidemark. I had a quick read of my title deeds and as I suspected there is no mention of any wayleave which is quite common evidently. However, there is something in the back of my mind that tells me if you have not objected to any pole etc being sited on your land after a period of time, something like 3 years ( the said pole in question has been in situ for roughly 50 years!) then it is deemed that a wayleave is not necessary. I am far from certain on this and perhaps I will take up the suggestion of @fairygirl ( thanks) and speak to citizen’s advice. If they don’t have answers they might be able to point me in the right direction of where to get some information. I feel forearmed is forewarned and need to be aware of my rights before the potential slaughter of my garden takes place!

 

Oh heck, I feel for you @hailbopp. Scottish Power/SSEN have been working hereabouts for a few years, especially since Arwen decimated much of Scotland and people were without power for weeks in some instances.

I do have a pole on my boundary, and it's been changed twice in 30 years, but it's not one of the transformer ones. Very little damage done, none in fact, just two guys with an auger and crane. The first lot left me the old pole too, at my request. It's still where they left it, in the 'wild' part of my garden.

All of this is no help to you at all, but it might serve as a warning to others never to plant for the future anywhere near a telegraph/electricity pole, because one day they might end up in the same situation you are, now.

I do hope you can find some resolution, but it's a tricky one, especially when practicalities - the need for electricity to power our lives- outweigh aesthetics.

 

Some times if it's close to a house you may be able to get it moved, ie, put the new one some where else then cut the top off the old one, may be worth talking to the main men.women about it

 

Thanks @Jiffy. This is already what I have suggested. Lop off the top down to about 6 ft for the clematis to happily climb up and put a new pole further away be it in another flowerbed which would no doubt get destroyed but better than the alternative. I have spoken to citizen’s advice and they are going to do their best to at least find out where I can read about the rules and regs of poles so I have a vague idea when trying to make the best of a bad situation! As far as SP Networks who are responsible for this are concerned they will just want it done as quickly and cheaply as possible.I know if they need to do work in a field where there is a standing crop the farmer gets compensation I would argue what is the difference?…..Well I can try!