I suppose I shouldn't complain but...

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.

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.

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.

dj hence the title of this thread.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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!

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

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.

Laurel makes a very good fast growing screen, as long as you don’t let it get out of control. It is almost impossible to kill it. We had a twelve feet high laurel hedge cut down to the ground last year, leaving only bare stumps, and it has already started to grow again.

You're allowed to mourn this.
In a way, although I knew that I had to move I still mourn the loss of my lovely garden. It wasn't at all overlooked but was too large for just me. Now my little garden has an ugly 1960s style office building just yards from the fence at the back. Oh well, I'm hoping that the beauty of the flowers and shrubs help to detract the eye. That's what I tell myself.

Plants are the most useful “blocker” of ugly sights. I have built a wall of trellis and ivy because it grows quickly and thickly and is pretty all year round.

Time to plant some tall fast growing trees if your garden can accommodate them.

I'm lucky in that I chose my ( final) house well. It has a long garden with trees at the rear and a cul-de-sac with mainly bungalows at the back. However, a copse was demolished to accommodate my estate built 33 years ago so I do feel for the people who lived in the village before. There are now plans to almost increase my village by a half again which we are opposing because it will no longer then be a village then as it will join the one next door.

My motto is we don't need more housing, we need less people... in my village, my town, my country and indeed the world. The end of this planet will come from overpopulation and it's about time those who are supposed to be in power, and individuals too taking responsibility, did something about it by limited a reproductive female to two offspring only. It's no good Mrs May having a 25 year plan to recycle cans if the population that uses them will be allowed to double in the same amount of years.

I seem to remember reading some years ago that it is unhealthy to live under or near power lines?

You have every right to be disappointed.

Our neighbour, whose garden adjoins ours at the bottom, had a row of Leylandii which blocked all light from our little vegetable patch and which she claimed she loved. When she moved and the new owners chopped down the conifers
I was so pleased but they then put up a big shed with corrugated metal roof and then another shed alongside it on top of which they store the roof box for their car!

When my next door neighbours put up an ugly shed I planted bamboo and was pleased with the resulting screen until the screen began to invade both our gardens. 20 years later it is still giving me grief. I have given up trying to improve the view or the light as I just jump from frying pan to fire.

I like the idea of a trellis with a climbing plant to hide the gantry. Gives you much more control.

We are thankfully one road removed from a very busy line which is being prepared for Crossrail with no end of noise at night and weekends for the people whose houses back on to the line. A huge train shed also went up almost overnight with no warning at the bottom of my friend’s garden. I have advised my DD and DS not to risk buying a place by a railway. The railway company often owns much of the land near the track too and seem to have the green light to build what they want so long as it relates to the railway.

Monica.
I can sympathise with you as this is what it is going to be like from now on UK 21c.It was inevitable that something would occur.If its not what you are experiencing, then its going to be motorways, housing estates, or new runways for expanding airports.I live in Cornwall and chicken farms are peaceful compared to the noise of thousands of properties now being built on greenfields .

A brilliant solution WilmaKF.

Unfortunately, views cannot be bought. Recently, some homeowners have been made aware that the land on which their houses sit, is leasehold not freehold and comes with onerous caveats.
Government is asking councils to not only shrink their budgets but also earmark land for development. It goes without saying that trees hedges and fields ARE IMPORTANT to our physical health and mental wellbeing. Sadly, we cannot accommodate the growing population without losing some precious views and, in these days of having to get from A to B in no time, despite a growing trend for working from home, faster travel will always take precedence over the people whose views they obliterate.

We are going to plant a hedgerow instead of the blasted fence that is always being blown down. I have decided on a hedgerow of dog roses which will provide flowers in the summer and rose hips later for the birds. I felt sad at first because I will be losing a flower bed but now I am really looking forward to it and can’t wait. Hope it all goes well for you and you enjoy your new view.

Crossed posts Sandelf

Of course you’re allowed to be upset Monica but good for you for trying to think positively. I’m sure if you employ a landscaper he/she will have good ideas for drawing your eye to other areas or blocking the gantries altogether. Good luck.

Clever planting is your way to go. A good designer could help - but you may be the ones to know your ground exactly. We have really black leylandii behind our garden BUT since planting a couple of bamboos and a variagated bush, multi stem birch - they 'catch the eye' and very much dilute the effect of the leylandii - so a combination of actual blocking and distracting the eye with other nice things can do a lot. - And if you buy biggish it may not take too long to have the benefit.

Even if Monica uses the trains, so do lots of other people. She's not saying it's unfair, she's just saying she's upset about it - which I think is understandable.