Process to move an ESB or Telecom Pole

justagirl

There is a house for sale and it has a big pole in the back garden - it's either ESB or a Telecom pole (I'm awaitng confirmation of this). This pole sits slap bang in the middle of the garden. From what I can see the lines run across fields ... through a few back gardens, into the back garden of this house and continues on into the next garden and ends there I think.

I no very little about moving services - how easy would this be - what would be the process ?

L1011

If its in the middle of the garden and not obstructing anything, it aint moving.

If its in the way of an extension or similar the process changes depending on whether its ESB or Eir - Eir will charge you a huge amount compared to the ESB unless things have changed. Eir could be four figures, and not low four figures at that; ESB used to do it FOC if you had planning permission granted but that may have changed

justagirl

L1011 wrote: »

If its in the middle of the garden and not obstructing anything, it aint moving.

If its in the way of an extension or similar the process changes depending on whether its ESB or Eir - Eir will charge you a huge amount compared to the ESB unless things have changed. Eir could be four figures, and not low four figures at that; ESB used to do it FOC if you had planning permission granted but that may have changed

Thanks L1011. Ok, so if its unsightly and if you just don't fancy having a pole in the middle of your garden its not just a case of asking (and paying) to get it moved ... The house was probably built in the 70's and its would have bene a rural area so I'm assuming anything went then.

I'll have to get confirmation of what service it is and find out costs from there.

I've attached two photos here to show where pole is.

L1011

That would appear to be power from the yellow warning plate and parallel cables

justagirl

L1011 wrote: »

That would appear to be power from the yellow warning plate and parallel cables

Oh, good spot - I didn't see that at all.

Here's another photo - you can see how close you are to the patio ...

cml387

It doesn't look that close to the patio to be honest.

justagirl

Heres another screenshot - you may just be able to see the pole (with sun shadow) in the middle part of the garden.

Don't think I'd be keen to have a power pole there ....

runawaybishop

justagirl wrote: »

Heres another screenshot - you may just be able to see the pole (with sun shadow) in the middle part of the garden.

Don't think I'd be keen to have a power pole there ....

Nobody is keen to have power poles near them, but they have to go somewhere. Moving existing poles when they aren't interfering with say an extension is difficult and costly.

I certainly wouldn't go through the effort or the cost of moving that pole.

justagirl

runawaybishop wrote: »

Nobody is keen to have power poles near them, but they have to go somewhere. Moving existing poles when they aren't interfering with say an extension is difficult and costly.

Thanks runawaybishop... agree they have to go somewhere, I just wished they weren't right in the middle, at the back maybe outside the boundary wall ideally...

So, to get the pole moved... I'd need to apply to the ESB to move the pole with a valid reason, for example, extension/building. From previous poster's advice ... the cost might be around 10k ? taking into account planning permission for extension to home etc ...

Would I need to get planning permission granted first before I can ask ESB to move the pole? and then if they agree to move would it be moved to somewhere else within the garden or could it be moved behind the boundary wall (currently at the back of the garden wall there is a strip of land that wil be grassed, then there will be a road that will service a new housing estate)... and after all that is I got it moved on the back of planning permission granted ..... if the ESB moved it .... and then I decided that the extension was not going ahead (financial constraints) .... would that be a problem ? would I have to get the pole moved back/pay a penalty ?

Luckysasha

It's an ESB service pole you have. The LV network is feeding yours and possibly more houses on a "group" from a transformer somewhere close by. Because its supplying your house you can apply to have it moved by all means but it has to stay on your property for access purpose. So you could go to the hassle of applying to get it moved only for an ESB engineer to tell you it can only be moved a couple of feet. You can't have it outside your boundary wall and you can't have it within 2 meters of the wall for safety reasons. And I think but I could be wrong it is priced as a new or alteration connection so the fee is about €1500

justagirl

Luckysasha wrote: »

It's an ESB service pole you have. The LV network is feeding yours and possibly more houses on a "group" from a transformer somewhere close by. Because its supplying your house you can apply to have it moved by all means but it has to stay on your property for access purpose. So you could go to the hassle of applying to get it moved only for an ESB engineer to tell you it can only be moved a couple of feet. You can't have it outside your boundary wall and you can't have it within 2 meters of the wall for safety reasons. And I think but I could be wrong it is priced as a new or alteration connection so the fee is about €1500

Thank you Lucksasha, that is very informative. A lot to think about.

Luckysasha

No problem glad to help

P. Breathnach

It's difficult to see from your photographs: is there a line running from the pole to your house?

justagirl

P. Breathnach wrote: »

It's difficult to see from your photographs: is there a line running from the pole to your house?

Underground from the pole...

Luckysasha

You can see the service cable clipped to the side of the pole

justagirl

Luckysasha wrote: »

You can see the service cable clipped to the side of the pole

Please excuse my lack of knowledge Luckysasha - why is it like that?

Luckysasha

Sorry, Why is like what ?

justagirl

Luckysasha wrote: »

Sorry, Why is like what ?

The service cable clipped to the pole ? Apologies and excuse my ignorance - I just know very little about electrics:o

Luckysasha

Basically what you have at the top of the pole is two bare conductors live and neutral 220v. The service cable is connected to the two overhead conductors and clipped down the side of your pole to bring supply to your fuse board via the ESB meter and main fuse. Halfway down the pole the service cable goes in to a pipe to give it some protection against damage and this pipe continues on to your meter where the service cable emerges. The service cable on the top half of the pole is stood way from the pole on eye bolts. This is so the lads climbing the pole don't damage the cable with their climbers. Usuall what happens is they will climb the first bit on a ladder then swap over to climbers to continue up to the top of the pole. Care is taken not to damage the service when climbing because this work is usually done live.

justagirl

Luckysasha, thanks for your time in explaining that - appreciate it.

Luckysasha

No problem

P. Breathnach

If your electric supply is underground, then moving the pole might be more difficult or expensive. You will need either a new underground feed (buried the best part of a metre down) or an overhead line running to the house. The overhead line is workable only if the carry is not too far.

Luckysasha

ESB won't install overhead services anymore only do like for like replacement. The LV ducting specifications can be found on ESB networks website. Bear in mind it's your responsibility to install the ducting with a rope installed for pulling in the service cable.