On Wednesday I received an unexpected call from Roy Bacon, the project manager. Although what he was saying was largely unintelligible due to a poor signal on his mobile, I knew he was trying to tell me something was wrong. Call it a premonition, but I had a feeling that our old "friend" the Rat was going to re-appear. We had received an official letter from Central Beds Council on Monday this week telling us that their Ethics and Standards Tribunal had made a judgement in relation to the complaints that we and Gillian Walton (number 5 Brookvale) had made about Stuart Rat(aj). In his guise as a parish councillor (co-opted of course - no-one would vote him in!) he did not declare his personal interest in our plot of land (due to his connection with Mr Hyde and the fact that he tried to buy the plot several years ago) when the parish council debated our revised plans last year and voted strongly against them. Although the clerk to the parish council had not recorded any declared interest from the Rat, nor his abstention from voting, the tribunal decided that the Rat was completely innocent of any wrong doing. The clerk was praised by the tribunal for his accuracy in recording the minutes of the meeting, but several of the other councillors now disputed the clerk's recorded version saying that they distinctly remembered the Rat declaring an interest at the Parish Council meeting that debated our planning application, and also that he abstained from voting. Although the minutes did not support this, and local government being what it is, they all stuck together and the Rat was let off the hook. I said to Jan that I thought he would emerge once more now that he was cleared. Sure enough, when Roy called back he explained that there was a small gang of men putting in posts between our land and the cartway. I rushed off down to Brookvale to see one post already installed and another hole being drilled. The "posts" were a telegraph pole that had been cut into three - very ugly things they are too, with very thick multi-strand wire pinned to each. For some reason, the hedgerow to the right has been massacred and the base dug out so that it looks like a cart track now.
To cut a long story short, after some discussion it appeared that there was documentary evidence to support the existence of a 14 foot track based on copies of plans attached to old deeds from 1953 that were shown to me. However, it wasn't all bad news as it appears following legal advice this week that case law, determined in 2006, means that we have an absolute right to access the plot and that we can upgrade the driveway in any way we like to ensure that it complies with District Council standards, and the needs of modern society. So the fact that it is described as a cart track is academic and we can use it for motor vehicles - contrary to the solicitor's letter from Mr Hyde earlier in the year.
This spiteful response was made within 24 hours of the Rat's "acquittal" and appears to be a final gesture as everything else has failed. The position of the first post now makes it difficult for larger vehicles to turn at the bend in the drive. Its very possible that a lorry may accidentally knock it over one day. How unfortunate that would be. All very pathetic really - pure spite - but once we grow our hawthorn hedge, this will be covered up.
And so to the events of the rest of the week. Amazingly, we have now had the water, gas and electricity pipes all laid in the service trench and approved by their respective suppliers. Good job too as the digger cost more to hire in 2 weeks than a BMW costs for a month on contract hire! But of course, there had to be a hitch. And on Thursday the hitch appeared in the form of the Anglian Water inspector. "Yup, the position of the water pipe in the trench is fine as it meets our standard. All I now need is the chlorination certificate and I can connect you" he said. Roy, who has been a builder for nearly 50 years, had never heard of a chlorination certificate so asked where he could get one. "From the people that you arranged the water supply with" said the inspector. "What, you mean Anglian Water, the company you work for" said Roy. "Yes that's right" he said. "Well why can't this be organised between you" enquired Roy. "Different department mate!" was the response. In the immortal words of Richard Wilson "I don't believe it!" Having suggested to Roy that this was another money making wheeze I wasn't surprised to hear that the cost of obtaining this certificate is £260 plus VAT. Quite why flushing the pipe with clean water is insufficient, goodness only knows. Notwithstanding this, with luck we should have the water, gas and electricity fully connected by the end of the month.
By the end of the week, the service trench had been backfilled, just leaving the turf to be re-laid. Only the foul waste to sort out now and connect the house to the main sewer - another digging job across the road.
Thursday saw the oak windows and doors arrive and very nice they look too. I took a day's leave on Friday and applied stain to the tops and sides to help the painter, Lee Hayes, who is arriving on Monday to do the rest of the staining prior to fitting (due to start Wednesday). Trouble is I keep forgetting that I am an old man and struggled to lift the frames. Help was readily provided by Roy's men working on site, but it doesn't do much for the ego when a frame you've struggled to lift with someone else's help is picked up under one arm and moved with apparent ease! I went back Saturday morning to remove the handles and other furniture from the frames to make it easier for the painters, but found I couldn't get to them. To avoid them being spirited away by, well, you know who does these things, all the frames had been tucked up in the en-suite bathroom by Roy's men and a large piece of plywood screwed to the door frame. I decided to sweep the floor instead!
Wednesday also sees Gary Gutter back to fit the guttering and downpipes, so by the end of the week after next we should have a secure house with rainwater being collected in our harvesting tank. I must admit I shall be very pleased to reach that point as the mess created by all the groundworks, and the water running off the roof, has now reached the point where it is impossible to go anywhere near the site without getting very messy indeed.
As a footnote to the issue with the new fence posts, I had a visit from Clive (4 Brookvale) when I was tidying up at Brookvale this morning. He is having the area between our garage and his neighbours garage cleared and a hardcore/gravel surface put down so he can put his boat there(26 foot sailing variety) for refurbishment. Clive wanted to make sure we both agreed the delineation of the boundary between us (pleasant change, eh?) but was also concerned that the first of Mr Hyde's new fence posts would make it very difficult, if not impossible for the lorry delivering the hardcore to get to the area in question. I wouldn't be at all surprised if said post suffers an accident soon - it does seem to have stirred up people! Of course it would seem like poetic justice if we could get the District Council to insist on its removal because a fire engine couldn't get round the driveway! Hmmm, might do some stirring next week.
Jan & Rog
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