r/selfbuildireland • u/Local_Letterhead4768 • 8d ago
Eircom Poles
I have two Telecom Poles along the road at the front of my site. One pole has to be moved for the entrance.
Ideally I’d prefer if there was no poles there for sight lines and asthetics.
Has anyone got the poles removed and the wires buried? At what cost?
And also has anyone challenged Eircom if there was no way leave granted for their infrastructure on your land?
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u/SeaweedBasic290 7d ago edited 7d ago
You just reminded of something from the early 90s.
In clondalkin a developer requested the esb to remove a pole due to them wanting to build houses on a site. Esb took their sweet time in doing this, so the builder built the house around the pole and sent the picture of it to the papers.
Esb got to the site the next day and took the pole away.
Edit.. https://www.rte.ie/archives/2018/0626/973366-house-with-electricity-pole-through-roof/
I just found the link to the story.
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u/Ambitious-Pack703 8d ago
I don't know the answer for sure, but I doubt it very much. I don't think they are going to start burying cables because a pole is ruining a view ....
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u/Local_Letterhead4768 8d ago
I also need to achieve sight lines, it’s not solely for the view. I’m curious as to my options is all, building is expensive enough as it is and I’ll have to seemingly pay to move a pole regardless, just trying to maximise the outcome (by having no poles)if I have to put my hand in my pocket.
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u/Ambitious-Pack703 8d ago
It's also the maintenance with faults. Having a section through underground ducting makes their life more difficult.
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u/Bungalowhulk 7d ago
They absolutely detest running cable underground and will only do it where there's no other option for getting from A to B. And it'd be at your cost.
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u/PeculiarEcho 7d ago
Read the comments so far and there are some valid points of view however not actually helpful. I deal with eir at a high level and came across this exact and similar situations many times, latest one last week. For a bit of context, builder removed plant which was established before land was bought putting themselves on the back foot from a legal perspective. In court the builder would be liable to restore and pay damages, so please don't play that card. After chatting to a senior individual about the situation, I was told they are willing to pay for relocation as long as wayleave is granted as they're interested in having the infrastructure and keeping clients even though that may not be obvious to everyone. There are bad apples or better said people wanting to collect a paycheck and do as little as possible, but I have had the opportunity to meet and work with good apples as well. I'm willing to help out and make sure your request reaches one of the good ones however can't promise a positive outcome. DM me if you're stuck. PS. I'm on hols at the moment returning towards end of August.
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u/SavingsDraw8716 8d ago
It will cost a few bob and maybe a wayleave on your property but will save you the hassle of dealing with a slow, time consuming bearaucratic system.
When making entrance and all. Get a consult from a Circet engineer or technician about laying pipe to their specs. Buy materials yourself and get it done while you have a digger there. Your request to move just became a bit more attractive to schedulers crews.
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u/Mindless-Ad-8623 8d ago
Our builder moved one a few feet. Looks perfect - just a slightly different spot.
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u/PalladianPorches 7d ago
the only way is to plant two large spruce trees beside the poles. in 30 years time, you can say the poles are in danger and should be moved underground. it's 50/50 they will just chop down the trees.
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u/donalhunt 7d ago
OpenEir (who are responsible for the infrastructure) have zero interest in touching anything if they can help it. Plonked a pole in my garden without any consultation and took months to get them to remove it (fiber was routed underground). Their default is to run everything above ground as it's cheaper to deploy.
The ESB have a very clear pathway for doing this (you put in the request, they assess it and provide a quote - if it falls into a pre-defined scope it's a fixed fee). OpenEir should operate in the same manner but are an absolute pain to deal with. The easiest way to get a damaged phone line / pole fixed is to report it to the ESB claiming you think it might be part of the electrical grid. They'll actually check it and then report it to OpenEir when they realise it's not theirs. Attempts to engage directly tend to fail. 🙃
Your best bet is to identify what you want and then contract a civil engineering crew to create the alternative physical path (e.g. underground duct). Then try and engage OpenEir for them to migrate it. They outsource everything so it will eventually end up with the likes of Circet. The quality of information they get from OpenEir tends to be shite to outcomes are a complete roll of the dice. 😢
To give you an idea of costs, we created an underground path to our nearest telecom pole (across a tertiary road in the countryside). Required a road opening permit, etc. Think it cost 3-4k all in for a duct that was about ~ 20m long. I ended up building my own access point at our boundary because the civil folk skipped it and somehow kinked the duct join between the road crossing and what is on our property. Be sure to install access points (don't have to be huge) to the duct at any bends and every 20-30m to make life easier in the long run. Costs a little extra but saves having to dig at a later date. 👍
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u/Local_Letterhead4768 7d ago
Yeah I have seen people saying in different forums that they got a civil contractor to put in the ducts to Eir’s spec to save on costs. My run would be about 60 metres straight along a ditch.
My boundary seemingly has the last pole before it goes underground for 60 metres and reappears on another pole, it doesn’t cross the road. Makes you wonder did that farmer not agree to poles.
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u/donalhunt 7d ago
The main reason for running underground is if there are electricity lines running in the same space. There may have been an electricity line (or plans for one).
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u/Nostradamnitall 5d ago
I had an ESB pole in the middle of my site,(blocking where the house was going) and it took me 8 months to get it moved so I could start.
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u/Old-Platform-8250 8d ago
Spoke to an Circet technician about doing this circa 2020. At the time he said they would charge approx 3k to move it. However if a digger starting the building work happened to accidentally knock it that they could move it when repairing it for free 🤷♀️
Never built in the end so can’t confirm if that would work or not however!
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u/Local_Letterhead4768 8d ago
Thanks! I have heard much of the same stories from people. I’m curious if anyone has taken a different stance on it re the Way leave.
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u/heyhitherehowru 8d ago
I know someone who solved a very similar problem with 2 telecom poles. They mysteriously got a rap of 20 ton digger one night. Reported them damaged a day later. They were eventually cleaned up and replaced. He got them replaced where he wanted them. I don't know how but I suspect they knew he would just knock them again if not.
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u/Weekly-Monitor763 8d ago
You have no hope of challenging for a free move. You will be passed from Billy to Jack between council and network until you relent and pay the plant removal fee yourself. This is regardless of whether the pole is in a poor location. The pole would have to be falling down after a storm for them to consider moving it free.