Running cables under paving

2013yearofthehouse

A friend of mine is considering paving her front lawn. Both her next door neighbours have already had theirs done and as a result, when one neighbour got cable TV the cables were buried under my friend's lawn and when the other neighbour paved, they moved the cables to under my friends path (loose slabs, whereas what they put in is completely solid). The cables are mostly down the edge each side, but one neighbours goes straight across the lawn from the pavement (it's an odd shaped corner plot lawn, the pavement point is effectively around the corner from the neighbour and situated in front of my friends house).

What would you do?

Leave the cables where they are, pave over the top and hope no-one ever needs access? (Hypothetically though, if access was needed, would the neighbour or cable company have a right to pull up my friend's paving? I know there's a risk a gas/elec/water company could need to anyway)

Or politely tell the neighbours they will need to find a new home for their cables? (Preferably with a sensible suggestion that everyone can be happy with - Where do most people route them if they have no where to bury them underground?)

Or call Virgin Media (would they be responsible?) and ask them to move them?


Keeping in mind, my friend doesn't want to fall out with her neighbours or be awkward, but there's a little bit of "why couldn't the one neighbour bury his own cables under his own paving" (although this doesn't apply to the second neighbour) and some slight annoyance from my friend that she didn't know the cabling was there until recently. She found one when lifting up some of the path slabs, it was just below the surface, but couldn't see where it went (at this point she didn't even know what it was for) so asked her neighbour and they told her it went right under the lawn. She went looking for the other and could trace it right from the box/point at the front to her back garden where it then disappeared under the fence.

Andy_L

2013yearofthehouse wrote: »

Leave the cables where they are, pave over the top and hope no-one ever needs access? (Hypothetically though, if access was needed, would the neighbour or cable company have a right to pull up my friend's paving? I know there's a risk a gas/elec/water company could need to anyway)

Or politely tell the neighbours they will need to find a new home for their cables? (Preferably with a sensible suggestion that everyone can be happy with - Where do most people route them if they have no where to bury them underground?)

Or call Virgin Media (would they be responsible?) and ask them to move them?

I'd tell the neighbours your going to pave over the front and that they (ie the neighbours) might want to contact Virgin & see what they want to do. Virgin probably wont speak to you anyway as your not the account owner

WestonDave

I'd say to the neighbours (politely) that you are going to pave the front area, and if they want the existing cables to remain there, then fine but you will not be digging up the front again in future if access is needed. You also need to say that if they get damaged in the works you won't be taking responsibility for that (albeit due care will be taken etc) as they shouldn't really be there without a wayleave or access agreement.

moneyistooshorttomention

I must say that I am rather astonished that someone else's cables would be underneath a garden in the first place.

I would be taking direct action myself and contacting Virgin Media to explain that their workman had obviously made a mistake routing a strangers' cables under MY garden and that I looked to them to re-route the cable promptly.

If that didn't work, then I would give them a deadline to remove the cables by and then continue with my plans on the basis the cables weren't there any more, even if they were. If they got damaged, they got damaged. VM would have been warned.

Is it possible to do a pincer movement on VM by getting the neighbour concerned to also have a go at them?

By the time they had both irate garden-owner complaining about trespass on their garden and neighbour worried their cable was about to get accidentally cut, then I think they might be quite keen to deal with it.

ritesh

Or...You could ""accidently damage" the cables saying you were completely unaware of them and tell the neighbours to best get in touch with VM to resolve issue :-)

Oh, tell them also to instruct VM to house cables under their respective gardens as you will be paving yours