I suppose I shouldn't complain but...

quizqueen
I think that first of all, instead of limiting the indiginous population, we ought to stop people, of whatever colour or creed and none, from coming here no matter where in the world they came from, be it Beirut or Bangladesh, Corfu or Calais.
What a farce it would be to limit UK citizens but allow someone from Corfu to bring 4 children here whether or not they had a job lined up. We need to sort out giving houses to pregnant teens who then go on to have more children and demand bigger accommodation whilst the majority of them give nothing to society. This is my personal view.

But it's not going to solve the problem of M0nica's gantries.

Many years ago we lived in a small village with Nurseries at the back that the farmer used regularly. Gradually this use stopped & the land went wild. We loved this as our cats & dogs would take themselves walking over there with no problems. Open space for us too was lovely. Then what was called a GLC Overspill estate was planned. We thought this might mean houses near the back of our gardens but what we got was a block of flats that were built practically on to the fence at the bottom of our garden. These flats had windows looking straight into our property, not just the garden. Needless to say we moved as far away as we could. No nice views but the sea just down the road, so glad we moved after all!

How I agree with you, Day6. A neighbour took me into her garden and at the end she had three beautiful mature trees. We stood under them on that warm day in the cool shade, and the breeze made a whispering noise among the leaves. Heaven. She told me that her neighbour 'over the back' wanted them cut down as he didn't like the shade at the end of his garden. She had told him very firmly that he would be scythed off at the knees if he as much as touched a leaf. She had a large, gorilla like son who would have done just that, and I do wonder if those trees, close to where we lived twenty years ago, are still there. Do people not know that without trees we would not have oxygen? I was taught at school that trees 'breath in what we breath out' and then the process reverses.
I do feel for you with the loss of your lovely view, but a few strategically places trellis panels as suggested might take away a lot of the eyesore factor. Sadly with all this appalling overbuilding I just count myself lucky to have some daylight coming in the windows - at the moment.

M0nica perhaps the design of the gantry is down to whether or not HS2 is involved.

Gabriellea thank you. Hopefully any landscaper/designer worth their salt is used to coming up with solutions like that.

W11girl that's exactly what we did. Also in another place in the garden we already had a dense wall of a climbing rose that's over 30 years old. We planted ivy between each plant so we get year round privacy, plus best security around from the big thorns on the rose. Only a fool would try to climb over it. The thorns go through gloves and and my DH will confirm how lethal they are!

We live in the centre of our village in the Victorian Board School so there is not much scope for new building but the gardens around us have very old, very tall trees, most with TPOs.

These were an asset when we moved here 25 years ago but they have grown so much that our small garden is quite shaded now and our requests for topping them fall on deaf ears.

We have only lived here for six years but one of the most desirable features of the property was the beautiful view across the road. Open fields and hedges and copses where we could frequently see deer and lots of birds. Neighbours said that the land was prime agricultural land which could never be built on because there was a legal agreement "in perpetuity" between the council and landowner.

Well it seems "in perpetuity" doesn't mean what most people would assume and the field nearest the road, and us, is now being ripped apart by heavy machinery doing ground works and they are going to build 125 houses on it. The road is a B road and already busy, the sewers are prone to backing up, the two local schools are full with portacabins, the Doctors surgery cannot take any more patients. The local hospital features regularly in the media as being unable to cope, with ambulances backed up outside.

Despite mega-protests against this development, from local people, who attended all the public meetings, these turned out to be just tick-box exercises by the council. "Did you consult the local residents" -Yes. "Did you take any notice of them" - NO. My faith in local democracy has been severely dented along with my sorrow at seeing this beautiful farm land ripped up and the wild life displaced.

There seems to be nothing anyone can do about this and on top of our genuine concerns, we are then labelled NIMBYs.

dj hence the title of this thread.

Gagagran It sounds to me that the landowner has offered to sell the land to the council. It would require a court to agree, but if the council can persuade the court that there is a shortage of land for housebuilding and the landowner is willing to sell, I can see the court lifting the agreement. It stinks.

I know I'm a bit late to join in but reading this has made me feel sad again about the home we "lost". We bought a tiny bungalow surrounded by woodland that we were promised by the council would never be built on as it was an area of something or other and no further building would ever be approved. We spent 9 years changing the bungalow into a family home with a wonderful garden, views for miles across wooded hills, lovely woodland walks - bliss. Anyway the council sold off the surrounding land, we got gypsies in caravans dotted everywhere and next door a massive 5 bed house went up, standing head and shoulders above out little bungalow, glowering down on our every movement. We sold up and lost around £200,000 on the value previously. We moved into town, surrounded by Victorian houses that will not change much so we know where we stand now. That's it, p'd off for the rest of the morning now thinking about my beautiful ex woodland home.

I think that's what hapened Wilma. The council was told the number houses they have to build and given this lovely site the developers were champing at the bit to get in there. They much prefer green sites without the problems brown field sites can bring. I'd like to know how much the farmer got for this one!

The "in perpetuity" clause was overturned by some legal sub-clause or other - we have never found out just what it was. Meanwhile the diggers, bulldozers and pile drivers are busy tearing it all up. It is very sad.