A mum says she can hardly sleep and is considering moving after a telecoms firm erected a huge pole outside her home overnight – without even asking her.
Wirral resident Sally Griffiths was shocked last week when she woke up to find the 25-foot telegraph pole installed by BT just outside her front gate, and the mum-of-three said neither the firm nor council ever told her.
Ms Griffiths, 56, has lived on Field Road in New Brighton for almost 30 years, but is now considering her options.
She claimed the pole will exacerbate traffic issues along her road, and has given her concerns for her own safety.
She explained: “I can’t sleep at night anymore. It’s affecting so many parts of my life. It’s so tall I feel threatened by it.
“I feel like it’s going to fall on me, every time it gets windy, I see the thing shaking – it could snap. I was up at 5am this morning worried about it.”
She said when men in hi-vis came last Thursday, she assumed they were carrying out gas works.
A notice about the pole had been put up on a road sign across the road – but it had the incorrect street name, and so caused confusion.
She complained to BT after the work had been done, but is yet to hear back.
The pole outside Ms Griffiths' home
The painter and decorator said: “I didn’t think anything of it because we had a blackout a couple of weeks ago here, so it could have been the gas.”
According to Ms Griffiths, there are plenty of other places it could have been safely erected nearby, and that the roads and pavement in the New Brighton area were already narrow enough without further obstructions.
Staff and visitors parking to use the nearby health centres mean the road is already congested, and cars are often forced to drive onto the kerb to give way or reverse, she said.
“The road can’t take it,” she explained.
“It will be a problem for wheelchairs and the elderly, and a problem at night time as visibility around here is not good. We just don’t know why they’ve put it there.
“People don’t know what to do anymore. We are fed up – defeated it shows no respect for the public at all. I’m thinking of moving it’s depressed me that much. I’m already starting to hate the area.
“I’d like to be listened to as a resident, and to get that pole removed.”
Ms Griffiths said she and other residents had been in touch with local ward Councillor Pat Hackett, who has been “very helpful”.
Cllr Hackett said: “[BT] need to ensure they consult more before they install this large piece of street equipment, we know it provides a great service, but it needs to be placed in a position that does not intrude or impinge on residents’ quality of life by obstructing pedestrians and access to the entrance of this property.
“At the very least they only had to have a chat by going around and speaking to the local community before they installed it, which would have helped everybody concerned.”
BT do not require local authority approval to erect telegraph poles.
A spokesman for BT Openreach said: “We’re going to take a closer look at this, in light of the concerns raised by people living nearby.
“Updating or installing new infrastructure can be a challenging and complex task at times, but we always try and carry out our work sensitively and with minimal disruption to the local community.”
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