Forum Discussion

fdd100's avatar
fdd100
Settling in
10 days ago

Concerns about safety of Cabinet on pavement

Hello

We have had a green VM cabinet on the pavement outside of our property for a number of years, installed with no notifications or consultation with us as the property owner. 

We have recently had our drive paved and a dropped kerb installed, the cabinet causes some obstruction, we knew this before we had the work done but knew that we would still be able to access our drive to park the car.

Our concern is now that the cabinet could present a hazard to pedestrians. It was previously up against our garden wall and under a tree so pedestrians would not have walked close to it. It now stands like an island in the foot path and is very obvious hazard particularly for anyone with sight issues or people walking past at night. Several residents on the street have already mentioned it.

From a H&S point of view this concerns us and we would like to know if and when VM have any plans to eventually remove these boxes. 

 

5 Replies

  • jpeg1's avatar
    jpeg1
    Alessandro Volta
    10 days ago

    If it's on the public pavement, they will have got permission from the local council/authority to put it there. It's unlikely that they will move it due to changes you have made.

  • fdd100's avatar
    fdd100
    Settling in
    10 days ago

    We're not concerned if they don't move it. We can access our drive. We are simply concerned about safety of pedestrians...if anything happens it's not our issue but we would prefer that VM know of the risk. And just wondering if that risk will be removed at some point

    • jpeg1's avatar
      jpeg1
      Alessandro Volta
      10 days ago

      When you applied for the dropped kerb, the council will have checked whether the pavement crossing would interfere with any utilities. They would have decided that the cabinet was not affected by your crossing. 

      As for future plans, Virginmedia are in competition with other suppliers so their plans are commercially sensitive and are not generally published. 

  • nodrogd's avatar
    nodrogd
    Very Insightful Person
    10 days ago

    Bear in mind it will cost you around £250 just for VM to do a feasibility study to see if it can be moved. These cabinets line up with road crossings & can contain splitters driving multiple other cabinets. The costs of the move, plus the disruption to services (resulting in compensation payouts) usually run into several thousand pounds. As the cabinet is not on your land, these costs would fall on you as the requesting party. As a result, cabinets in these situations are rarely moved.

    Example just down the road from me:

     

  • Roger_Gooner's avatar
    Roger_Gooner
    Alessandro Volta
    9 days ago

    Can you post some photos showing the cabinet and its surrounding area as I find it hard to believe that a council would approve a dropped kerb which caused a cabinet to be a hazard.