Steve Firth wrote:

Ed Sirett wrote:

Meanwhile the cable TV company blithely fixed their junction box to the
corner of the house breaking up on of the bricks, loosening the mortar
leading subsequently to the loss of a whole brick!

Oh yes, been through that as well. In the middle of our struggle with
the LBO BT arrived and told me they were going to fasten a galvanised
metal eye to the wall of my house. I told them to push off and was
served with a notive telling me that I had no right to refuse. I
contacted the LBO who told me that BT could do what they liked to the
house, no permission required. It took major negotiations to prevent
them fixing the damn thing into a rubbed brick arch.


BT have been fairly responsible on this one. They used nails with a lead
loop into the mortar to secure the phone lines.

I presume the CATV people also believe they are exempt or actually are?


--
Ed Sirett - Property maintainer and registered gas fitter.
The FAQ for uk.diy is at www.diyfaq.org.uk
Gas fitting FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/GasFitting.html
Sealed CH FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/SealedCH.html

Steve Firth wrote:

Peter Crosland wrote:


Can you provide some evidence to substantiate such a wild generalisation or
is this based on a particular problem with just one local authority? In
other words are you tarring all local authorities with the same brush?


I can confirm everything that Peter has said. The process is entirely
capricious and is based upon one aligning one's own taste with that of
the LBO.


snip tales of 'listed hammer house of horror' proportions

The key is to go and have a chat with teh ***hole ^H^H^H^H LBO FIRST and
see what is 'acceptable'

Plenty of grovelling, lots of sympathetic listening to how dreadful it
is being abused by people who 'think they can walk all over listing
guidelines in the name of Profit' etc. etc. plus turning up in the
shoddiest car you can find, in stained clothes, and anything else that
makes you look like one of Us, not one of Them, should get the ossifer
in a more mellow frame of mind, and then the final trick is to get THEM
to suggest what you had in mind already..

Very time consuming, and totally humilitating..but there ya go.