Neighbour's New Power Pole Is Close to My Existing Service Line

seabombs on 13/04/2022 - 12:00

Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone has experienced a similar situation and can offer advice.

My neighbour is knocking down and rebuilding their house. As part of that they've installed a private power pole in the front corner of their property, next to our property boundary. That's all fine. The potential issue is that the power pole is about 30 cm horizontally from my electrical service line, and the top is about 10 cm above the sag of my service line. In a stiff breeze, I think there's a good chance my service line will sway and hit their power pole. Also both our service lines attach at the same point on the street power pole, so will basically run close and in parallel to each other once they move their service line to their power pole (they haven't connected it yet, only installed the power pole). Again I worry they will contact/tangle with each other.

Hopefully these images illustrate it better than my description:

https://imgur.com/a/NvwmBj7 - their power pole on the left with my service line passing it on the right

https://imgur.com/a/VdRZOr0 - view from below showing distance between them (thin line to the far left is my old telephone line that sits about a meter below the power line)

This doesn't seem safe to me, but I've not been able to find any guidelines on clearances between service lines (only things like between service lines and buildings or vegetation).

I've already lodged a safety check with Energex who are yet to come out and have a look, but thought I'd ask here in case anyone has come across this situation before. My concern is that Energex will say we have to change it, and since they've already installed the power pole the pressure will be on us to change our point of attachment on the house.

Thanks!

Home & Garden

Comments

  • ESEMCE on 13/04/2022 - 12:30

    Looks like your Lead-in might cross their property which AFAIK shouldn't occur.
    In which case, yes, you may need to have work done on your Lead-in, but that shouldn't come at your (financial) cost.
    Definitely an issue for Energex to resolve.

    • seabombs on 13/04/2022 - 12:58
      +1

      Yes I think our line just crosses the corner of their boundary.

      For new builds/service lines they're required to not cross over a neighbour's boundary, but our homes were built in the 60s when it was common for lines to cross boundaries somewhat. I think there is a historic or automatic easement in place for this case. That's my understanding anyway but haven't confirmed that.

  • rektrading on 13/04/2022 - 12:41

    https://imgur.com/a/NvwmBj7

    I can't tell from the image but this looks like the electrical lead-in is crossing inside the neighbour's boundary.

    OP, can you please confirm with a mud map?

  • Fergy1987 on 13/04/2022 - 12:59
    +1

    You can just slap up your own power poles these days? I've never known this.

    • AndyC1 on 13/04/2022 - 13:48

      In Sydney there is a requirement that some reno/building works trigger the requirment that a power pole needs to be installed at your cost. Not all sparkies are qualified to do the work, but a sparkie is needed and the power distribution company then comes along and moves the power lines from the house to the pole.

      You can install a pole at your own cost if you want, but this sounds like a stupid thing, unless you have trees that keep dropping limbs and cutting the line.

      • ShannonN on 13/04/2022 - 16:35
        -1

        but wouldnt any qualified sparky KNOW where and where not to put pole if other users lead ins cross property etc, isnt the legal onus on the installer to ensure everything is safe and compliant?

        • AndyC1 on 13/04/2022 - 16:42
          +1

          No there are different sparky quals that allow them to work on different equipment and power line types. The power to the street requires a certain qualification and most would, but not all.

          Yes the onus is on the installer, but not all sparkies can do power poles.

  • Stewardo on 13/04/2022 - 13:10

    I’m sure the people commissioning it are qualified and can make adjustments to both, I’m sure this comes up all the time.

  • AndyC1 on 13/04/2022 - 13:45

    Wait for Energex or cut it down yourself now so that it is no longer there.

  • Gros21 on 13/04/2022 - 15:40

    its bundled conductor and is insulated.

    hardly an issue Energex may be able to remove some of you conductor sag.

    Property poles are extremely popular for rural properties and the like.

    • AndyC1 on 13/04/2022 - 16:45

      The sag issues will only become and issue if a truck snags it and pulls the cable down. This occurred with me once and I had to wait for the fire brigade to come along to tell me if it was safe to drive back or not as I was NOT getting out of the car as it was potentially electrified. The fire brigade turned up and said to reverse slowly and I did until it was safe to get out and let them know what happened.

  • brendanm on 13/04/2022 - 16:27

    Those wires are insulated.

    • Euphemistic on 13/04/2022 - 17:25

      It probably wouldn’t take long to wear though the insulation if it contacted the pole in a breeze.

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join