Is this open reach box acceptable?
Discussion
Dan_M5 said:
Unless you sit looking out the upstairs windows i dont see how or why this effects you? Looks like you cant see it from any of the ground floor windows.
It can be seen from the kitchen but its not really an issue. My only issue is that when pulling in it looks an eyesore along with the other boxes. I am afraid that when we sell the house other people will be put off by a load of boxes outside. I was always a bit concerned about the other 2 but thought that because they were offset its not that bad. Maybe it wont cause an issue i dont know, if i were buying id have to really love the house!
Ironically we almost bought a house in the country, lovely potton home but there were question marks about the land surrounding it. We went for this because we thought that being a suburban area already built up we knew what we were getting, with 2 boxes outside i never thought we would get more.
im sure the new hedge will disguise it and take a bit of its presence away but its not ideal and very inconsiderate.
JXN1990 said:
Coin Slot. said:
I'd be happy with the d/l speeds and ping to be honest, a gamer would be all over your place when you come to sell it 
Indeed, proximity to the cabinet is a selling point imo.Everyone who came to view my house was told that it was VM cabled and the cabinet was literally just across the street. with steady DL speeds of 236mb.
Whether or not it was a plus point, it certainly wasn't a negative.
our netflix and anything on demand is already so fast its like simply watching normal tv. this new box gives 300mb by all accounts.sc0tt said:
Jappa are you the chap i met a day and an age ago that ran a 13.2 in his silver m3?
Box is in a s
t location hopr you can get it moved.
i could be, it was stripped out inside with a carbon airbox and cams, eventually it did 12.9. Loved that car and sold it silly cheap really Box is in a s
t location hopr you can get it moved.
MYOB said:
Let's not degenerate someone's home.
However, living on a new estate there will be boxes like these appearing, especially when buying off plan. It's a risk but no, I suspect these boxes won't deter future buyers. How do people manage selling houses with other undesirable infrastructures, such as main roads and overhead power lines?
Thing is for 20 odd years it was just the small lighter green box there, the whole front was open to the road and tbh it looked quite attractive, i liked it (only going by google images as i have been here 18mths) .However, living on a new estate there will be boxes like these appearing, especially when buying off plan. It's a risk but no, I suspect these boxes won't deter future buyers. How do people manage selling houses with other undesirable infrastructures, such as main roads and overhead power lines?
I reckon when they planted the larger box is when the last owner planted the laurel hedge to the left of the gate.
We are on a main road, its one of the things we dont love about the house, it doesnt actually cause any real issue though, its not a busy one. But when you are buying you have to weigh everything up. To cut a long story short we got this for quite good money (we think) compared to other properties, the seller was a bit hasty/greedy when selling, he had another buyer who was also greedy, they fell out, he was even more desperate to sell and we paid what we think was a relative bargain. We accepted the road and boxes as part of that. there are 4 of these properties on the development, they are approx 2500 sq ft, ours is 2800.
1. has parking for 2 cars and no chance at all of any more, just no front garden. thats a big issue. does have river view
2. is on our road but directly opposite a much busier junction with not as many nice houses nearby. garden seems smaller and much more overlooked.
3. is tucked on a cul de sac, very very tight and has part of a shared access drive. river view. def the best one though and looks nice with a sort of stock brick finish.
4. ours which is on the corner plot, possibly biggest plot. good parking, nothing silly about access etc.
We learnt through other near purchases that no property is safe from some form of development or neighbours from hell.
Even if you've got a property with nothing around it for miles you still run the risk of someone like countryside buying 300 acres and building a thousand houses round you!
I am a bit less pissed off now, it was just a major shock seeing it, i still haven't had any contact back from anyone yet though, i will pursue it but lets see what happens.
Some of the photoshops are great, im actually laughing at them
I have calmed down, i was fking furious last week, now im still pissed off but less. I can see how people would think i am over reacting but at the same time i just think its disrespectful to place something like that when it could be placed elsewhere. When i do a driveway or garden for someone my obvious intention is making money, however i would never ever do anything which was vaguely detrimental to their property, and thats probably one of the reasons im always busy!
I reckon that looking at it properly this is why the box is there:
The box seems to be fed from the triple manhole in front of the original box.
To get the cable out of that end and round the other side would require removal of the slabs/concrete around that box and the middle one, granted there may well be ducts in the way already.
There is a tree stump, so the trench they did was the easiest route.
As such the easiest location to dig the hole and fit the box is where it is now. Probably a few hours extra labour to place it the other side. I assure you thats the story of my life, everything i do seems to take a bit longer to make a proper job of it, but then i need my reputation and they really dont.
I did chase open reach last night, they can only be reached by email.
Anyway this time it was another person i was dealing with. I gave him the address and straight away he knew what i was talking about and said he was shown it by his colleague last week and that he can see why i am anxious to get it sorted, he said he hopes something can be done but cant promise. So basically another one who agrees it's silly.
Had an architect round today to do some drawings for an oak porch. Imo the house is fairly ugly, its got a large roof, very square front, lots of white soffit. I really think the open gable ended porch will transform it, he also agreed the box was silly and pointed out it can be seen from the kitchen (which it can and doesnt even really bother me) its more the pulling into the road and seeing a display of what boxes open reach can supply to prospective customers
I doubt id get a drop kerb that side either, the people opposite have done it but i would be surprised if it was possible, maybe it is?
I have calmed down, i was f
king furious last week, now im still pissed off but less. I can see how people would think i am over reacting but at the same time i just think its disrespectful to place something like that when it could be placed elsewhere. When i do a driveway or garden for someone my obvious intention is making money, however i would never ever do anything which was vaguely detrimental to their property, and thats probably one of the reasons im always busy! I reckon that looking at it properly this is why the box is there:
The box seems to be fed from the triple manhole in front of the original box.
To get the cable out of that end and round the other side would require removal of the slabs/concrete around that box and the middle one, granted there may well be ducts in the way already.
There is a tree stump, so the trench they did was the easiest route.
As such the easiest location to dig the hole and fit the box is where it is now. Probably a few hours extra labour to place it the other side. I assure you thats the story of my life, everything i do seems to take a bit longer to make a proper job of it, but then i need my reputation and they really dont.
I did chase open reach last night, they can only be reached by email.
Anyway this time it was another person i was dealing with. I gave him the address and straight away he knew what i was talking about and said he was shown it by his colleague last week and that he can see why i am anxious to get it sorted, he said he hopes something can be done but cant promise. So basically another one who agrees it's silly.
Had an architect round today to do some drawings for an oak porch. Imo the house is fairly ugly, its got a large roof, very square front, lots of white soffit. I really think the open gable ended porch will transform it, he also agreed the box was silly and pointed out it can be seen from the kitchen (which it can and doesnt even really bother me) its more the pulling into the road and seeing a display of what boxes open reach can supply to prospective customers
I doubt id get a drop kerb that side either, the people opposite have done it but i would be surprised if it was possible, maybe it is?
little update today:
Guys came and wired the box today, spoke to them and they agreed it was bad as well, he said it was dangerous and didn't like working on it because he's hidden behind a box on a corner. He phoned his boss (another contractor) but was told to carry on. He said they were on a price and the guys digging also would have been! He agreed it was put there for the easy dig and there was no reason at all why it couldn't go the other side except for the dig being a little bit harder.
Not long after a woman came along, I'm not sure on her role but its something to do with a specific component inside. She also thought it was really bad and potentially dangerous, someone said to me what if a child was waiting to cross standing beside the box , a car wouldn't see them and what if the kid walks out? A bit pc but true imo! i wouldn't want my daughter practicing crossing there tbh.
Anyway, the woman took a load of photos, emailed somebody. About an hour later she came back and told my wife what she had done, asked if we would be happy with it on the other side (which we would) and said don't be surprised to see someone out there soonish surveying it! She did say that they want people to be happy with what they provide.
The woman over the road also came out, saying its a bad position and she actually said all the boxes were badly located because the openreach engineers park in a way which makes it hard getting off her drive and they regularly have radios on which she says she can hear (tbh i haven't heard that). They are out there an awful lot though to be fair, which from my pov is no hardship.
So fingers crossed something may happen!
I know its extreme and may never happen but could you imagine if a child crossed there, got run over and died. It then transpires someone has complained before, it would cause them no end of problems and could mean that each box really does have to have proper planning, could cause them trouble over the whole country and who the fk wants to be responsible for something like that, hence todays health and safety culture. Everyone wants to cover their arse!
Also a couple of councils have said a flat no to any boxes at all, loosing potentially thousands of customers, im sure they wouldn't want local councillors getting involved potentially telling them no more boxes because they are a complete eyesore and are installed in poor locations.
On the other side of town there's another 3 badly located, an engineer told me about them, they aren't outside a house but are grouped together on a footpath, he says it does cause issues working on them because people cant get past.
My faith in them remains, everyone i have spoken to from bt or openreach and even sub contractors have all agreed its a silly position.
Guys came and wired the box today, spoke to them and they agreed it was bad as well, he said it was dangerous and didn't like working on it because he's hidden behind a box on a corner. He phoned his boss (another contractor) but was told to carry on. He said they were on a price and the guys digging also would have been! He agreed it was put there for the easy dig and there was no reason at all why it couldn't go the other side except for the dig being a little bit harder.
Not long after a woman came along, I'm not sure on her role but its something to do with a specific component inside. She also thought it was really bad and potentially dangerous, someone said to me what if a child was waiting to cross standing beside the box , a car wouldn't see them and what if the kid walks out? A bit pc but true imo! i wouldn't want my daughter practicing crossing there tbh.
Anyway, the woman took a load of photos, emailed somebody. About an hour later she came back and told my wife what she had done, asked if we would be happy with it on the other side (which we would) and said don't be surprised to see someone out there soonish surveying it! She did say that they want people to be happy with what they provide.
The woman over the road also came out, saying its a bad position and she actually said all the boxes were badly located because the openreach engineers park in a way which makes it hard getting off her drive and they regularly have radios on which she says she can hear (tbh i haven't heard that). They are out there an awful lot though to be fair, which from my pov is no hardship.
So fingers crossed something may happen!
I know its extreme and may never happen but could you imagine if a child crossed there, got run over and died. It then transpires someone has complained before, it would cause them no end of problems and could mean that each box really does have to have proper planning, could cause them trouble over the whole country and who the f
k wants to be responsible for something like that, hence todays health and safety culture. Everyone wants to cover their arse!Also a couple of councils have said a flat no to any boxes at all, loosing potentially thousands of customers, im sure they wouldn't want local councillors getting involved potentially telling them no more boxes because they are a complete eyesore and are installed in poor locations.
On the other side of town there's another 3 badly located, an engineer told me about them, they aren't outside a house but are grouped together on a footpath, he says it does cause issues working on them because people cant get past.
My faith in them remains, everyone i have spoken to from bt or openreach and even sub contractors have all agreed its a silly position.
Lemming Train said:
Sorry, no. I sympathise to some degree about its siting, but all this "what if a child ran out and they weren't seen because the cabinet was hiding them" is complete and utter nonsense, same as your earlier straw-clutching crap about not being able to see traffic approaching when turning out of the adjacent side road. People manage to get in and out just fine without ending up upside down in a ball of fire when there's a big Openreach tranny van parked there so arguing that the cabinet blocks the view of traffic is utter crap. You seem to be forgetting that there was a huge tree situated where the new cabinet is give or take a few feet and that was many times bigger in size. How did people manage? 
You've gone full-on NIMBY.
Ok, bring your kids round and lets practice crossing the road there then? You've gone full-on NIMBY.Why was the tree removed?
While i don't like to exercise the opinion because i am generally anti health and safety its certainly possible.
Lets face it, no one in their right mind would actually be pleased with it out there. If it doesn't go it doesnt go and ill re do the hedge but tbh until then ill do my best to get it moved because the contractor was too f
king lazy to put it somewhere sensible.Btw it was actually 2 other people who said about a child crossing, putting that into my head. I think its a reasonable statement.
Fair enough, maybe it is first world problems, I've had far worse real heartbreaking stuff in the past. We had to take our 3yr old to a&e last night after she screamed in pain, id rather have a hundred boxes and be homeless than her have something bad happen.
However why the fk do i spend my entire life worrying and pandering to my customers, staff, sub contractors, even passers by? Only for others to not give a st about their behaviour. Its not just the box its a behaviour i am seeing more and more, people and buisness just doesn't seem to give a flying fk about what they do, as long as they benefit then the rest can do one. Of course there are exceptions but its prevalent. The whole thing could have been avoided by taking a couple of hours longer to install. (confirmed by the 3 engineers and woman today).
Off the top of my head the council have i'm sure replanted trees, maybe they were too big to maintain i dont know, i do know that come the spring the council really do look after this part of road, it looks very pretty when driving down here imo. I remember hitting about 35 and suddenly thinking like an adult that the area looked really pleasant
Im not bothered about what passers by think, im bothered about what i think and i think it looks st, the same as anyone viewing in the future. I am very house proud, i have enjoyed renovating the place and i was looking forward to building the porch and doing a new drive, transforming it from looking pretty bland to quite nice. Now i almost cant be bothered, maybe thats an over reaction but i do feel like that.
On top of that i think it does cause a hazard. Even if you look at the street view from a particular position with the openreach van it looks like a picture you get in a hazard perception test
However why the f
k do i spend my entire life worrying and pandering to my customers, staff, sub contractors, even passers by? Only for others to not give a st about their behaviour. Its not just the box its a behaviour i am seeing more and more, people and buisness just doesn't seem to give a flying fk about what they do, as long as they benefit then the rest can do one. Of course there are exceptions but its prevalent. The whole thing could have been avoided by taking a couple of hours longer to install. (confirmed by the 3 engineers and woman today).Off the top of my head the council have i'm sure replanted trees, maybe they were too big to maintain i dont know, i do know that come the spring the council really do look after this part of road, it looks very pretty when driving down here imo. I remember hitting about 35 and suddenly thinking like an adult that the area looked really pleasant
Im not bothered about what passers by think, im bothered about what i think and i think it looks s
t, the same as anyone viewing in the future. I am very house proud, i have enjoyed renovating the place and i was looking forward to building the porch and doing a new drive, transforming it from looking pretty bland to quite nice. Now i almost cant be bothered, maybe thats an over reaction but i do feel like that.On top of that i think it does cause a hazard. Even if you look at the street view from a particular position with the openreach van it looks like a picture you get in a hazard perception test
AlmostUseful said:
Visibility splays are defines zones (not sight lines, but splayed areas) and something is either in it or it isn’t.
If the box is in it, and is outside of the permitted sizes then it should be moved because it won’t have highways agreement to be there, if it’s outside the zone, or within it but also within the size parameters then it’s nothin my to worry about.
Looking at drawings for visibility splays i would be fairly confident it is in it, sure i read something about stuff being 1m high somewhere, i haven't measured the box but fairly sure its just over a meter. If the box is in it, and is outside of the permitted sizes then it should be moved because it won’t have highways agreement to be there, if it’s outside the zone, or within it but also within the size parameters then it’s nothin my to worry about.
Looking locally as well it appears that a lot of the original trees are in place, it appears that most junctions have had them removed or smaller ones re planted. Its a shame as that older tree was nice
I have finally had confirmation from open reach that they will NOT be moving the box, however they can for a minimum of 40k! They even confirmed the box will be fitted like this for cost reasons.
I would love to have a business where:
i subcontract and can fit stuff where i want
i am faceless and cant be contacted further than email
i can cause problems for others which do not matter to me
i can charge enormous sums to fix the above.
I didn't think they would move it but i am genuinely shocked at their attitude of 'so what'
I would love to have a business where:
i subcontract and can fit stuff where i want
i am faceless and cant be contacted further than email
i can cause problems for others which do not matter to me
i can charge enormous sums to fix the above.
I didn't think they would move it but i am genuinely shocked at their attitude of 'so what'
Maybe i take it to heart a bit much, im not an electrical contractor but a paving company.
The things i have had to deal with you wouldn't believe, its as if i am supplying babies or something. My favourite was when we had our daughter, even though i had other people who were perfectly capable on site his exact words were 'well i dont see why you need to be there' (for the fking birth that is ), chipped slab down an alley way ? end of the world, a forgotton pallet left in their garage? never ending phone calls to pick it up, even though they know its a 40 mile round trip, so so many more.
The way (some definitely not all) customers treat me is shocking, but guess what they say jump and i say how high? I am always busy, ive got a good reputation which is built on quality of work and service which pays my rather chunky mortgage.
I am just amazed that a national company can put street furniture where ever it is easiest to install (id be a lot better off if i could behave like that) with zero consequence. The boxes project manager didn't even contact me directly. Just a flat no message. The whole thing could have been avoided if they took an extra couple of hours to remove some concrete and fit the other side, the cable run would have actually been shorter.
I have spoken to my local councillor who's a nice bloke, he agrees its bad as well and told me they actually had to move one further up the road a few years ago, im not sure why though, he may or may not help to get it moved. i have also tweeted bt, openreach, essex highways, essex council so will see what they say.
Apart from that ill be planning the hedge and some shrubs around it.
And of course i get its public land, but what next? why not fit a costa drive through? A whole telephone exchange? i actually bought this house because i thought it was safe from development, i never thought there would be a line of bt boxes outside. Its why we have planning, its to stop people building stupid stuff where they want, but it appears openreach is above the law and can fit where ever is cheapest for them (or actually the sub contractor).
And 40k to move it hahahahaha really, where the fk is 40k of work?
The things i have had to deal with you wouldn't believe, its as if i am supplying babies or something. My favourite was when we had our daughter, even though i had other people who were perfectly capable on site his exact words were 'well i dont see why you need to be there' (for the f
king birth that is ), chipped slab down an alley way ? end of the world, a forgotton pallet left in their garage? never ending phone calls to pick it up, even though they know its a 40 mile round trip, so so many more.The way (some definitely not all) customers treat me is shocking, but guess what they say jump and i say how high? I am always busy, ive got a good reputation which is built on quality of work and service which pays my rather chunky mortgage.
I am just amazed that a national company can put street furniture where ever it is easiest to install (id be a lot better off if i could behave like that) with zero consequence. The boxes project manager didn't even contact me directly. Just a flat no message. The whole thing could have been avoided if they took an extra couple of hours to remove some concrete and fit the other side, the cable run would have actually been shorter.
I have spoken to my local councillor who's a nice bloke, he agrees its bad as well and told me they actually had to move one further up the road a few years ago, im not sure why though, he may or may not help to get it moved. i have also tweeted bt, openreach, essex highways, essex council so will see what they say.
Apart from that ill be planning the hedge and some shrubs around it.
And of course i get its public land, but what next? why not fit a costa drive through? A whole telephone exchange? i actually bought this house because i thought it was safe from development, i never thought there would be a line of bt boxes outside. Its why we have planning, its to stop people building stupid stuff where they want, but it appears openreach is above the law and can fit where ever is cheapest for them (or actually the sub contractor).
And 40k to move it hahahahaha really, where the f
k is 40k of work?Just got back from center parcs (where incidentally there were st loads of boxes, all installed in discreet locations ) and a morrisons utility bloke turned up outside to take photos and measurements.
His manager had been given the complaint and is now looking into it. The bloke was really helpful, agreed it was ridiculous, agreed its been put there because ducting to the other side would have taken longer. He said it will have planning but would be surprised if its in that spot. He reckons the planning is for the other side and that the contractors will have turned up, looked at the dig and said fk that (which i totally agree with, having been a trade my whole working life).
He said they wouldn't want highways involved.....Im not sure why, maybe they will get a bking, im not sure. He said its definitely looking in our favour.
Which is nice.
He also said that in 3-4 years all of the boxes will be going, they are having to be fitted in some underground type boxes, im not sure what, something to do with super fast internet. This type of box has another 2 years of installation and then they will be going, i suppose demand will only go up along with speeds required with people now streaming everything.
t loads of boxes, all installed in discreet locations ) and a morrisons utility bloke turned up outside to take photos and measurements. His manager had been given the complaint and is now looking into it. The bloke was really helpful, agreed it was ridiculous, agreed its been put there because ducting to the other side would have taken longer. He said it will have planning but would be surprised if its in that spot. He reckons the planning is for the other side and that the contractors will have turned up, looked at the dig and said f
k that (which i totally agree with, having been a trade my whole working life).He said they wouldn't want highways involved.....Im not sure why, maybe they will get a b
king, im not sure. He said its definitely looking in our favour.Which is nice.
He also said that in 3-4 years all of the boxes will be going, they are having to be fitted in some underground type boxes, im not sure what, something to do with super fast internet. This type of box has another 2 years of installation and then they will be going, i suppose demand will only go up along with speeds required with people now streaming everything.
bimsb6 said:
Which certre parcs ? Not heard that one about the boxes going , seems unlikely, he maybe talking about the dialtone from the exchange being turned off but the target for that is 2025.
We were at the woburn one, decent few days away 
I agree that i cant see them going, he was quite adamant though as i asked a few times what he meant, 2 more years of installing these and then they are being replaced. 3-4 years and they will be gone he reckoned.
He also said that chelmsford council (which we come under) had a big meeting with them saying no more boxes, they do not want them damaging the landscape when they can be fitted underground. He said they were very pissed off with having the wool pulled over their eyes being told the cabinets had to be fitted when these underground ones can be.
I don't know this guys position in the business (he was morrisons) so he may well have 9th hand information which is incorrect. He did say its why they are putting up with 'all this s
t' though and thats what they actually want (the installation of them all).Gassing Station | Homes, Gardens and DIY | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff