Any power networks folk? New overhead electrical connection

[skwdenyer]

We're in the process of restoring a house that hasn't been lived in since the 1980s. The (old, overhead) electrical connection was removed in 1996. As far as we can tell, that overhead cable cross a neighbour's roof (i.e. was above their roof in the "air space").

Our local DNO won't replace like-for-like due to the air space issue. They've proposed trenching over our neighbours' gardens to the nearest pole - which will be wildly invasive to the neighbours, not to mention not being terribly cheap.

Before I organise another conversation with the DNO, I'd like to consider my options. Is there anyone who can offer some informed advice? amongst options I'm considering investigating:

- install a new pole in front of the house, bring cable over a nearby stream to another pole that's in sight (not the same pole the DNO wanted to trench from);

- install some sort of "offset bracket" on the rear of the house, to provide the requisite (300-400mm) offset to allow a new overhead cable to clear the neighbour's house (i.e. avoiding going over the "air space") (similar to one of these old GPO illustrations):





- ask the DNO to install the new cable first to the neighbour's house (existing wayleave to existing overhead bracket on rear wall), then along the neighbour's wall, then across the gap to ours;

Is there anything else I should consider / ask? There's no cabling in the street in this location, so we have to work from poles. The trenching quote isn't astronomical (£6k or so), but the potential for major disruption and bad blood with the neighbours after a lot of landscaping is destroyed for trenching is something I'd like to avoid.