‘Our lives are being destroyed’, sob neighbours losing their back gardens in ‘David vs. Goliath’ war with Network Rail
FURIOUS homeowners claim Network Rail is destroying their peaceful lives by grabbing land and leaving their remaining garden overlooking a noisy precipice.
Residents on Glenfield Avenue, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, are losing their beloved back gardens and being left with the thunder of trains and hubbub of an industrial estate.
Contractors have already felled thousands of mature trees beside the main Transpennine rail track and now they are taking their axes to trees in householders’ gardens.
Homeowners are demanding £10,000 compensation from Network Rail for the inconvenience of losing land and being unable to enjoy their gardens during a two-year track upgrade scheme.
Proud gardener Nigel Travers, 62, is one person affected.
HGV driver Mr Travers said:”We are trying to stand up for what is right.
“Network Rail have had three years to sort this out. They were supposed to start in February – didn’t – then just turned up a few weeks ago and started chopping trees down.
“They started sawing down my a blokes tree along the road until the contractors were stopped.
“Now we’ve all had threatening letters ordering us to let Network Rail have access to our gardens or face legal costs.”
Mr Travers, who has lived in the street for more than 30 years, is to lose 142 square metres of the bottom of his garden to the rail firm.
And Network Rail will be driving in soil nails to prevent landslips deep under his property.
Once the messy and intrusive work is completed the residents will find their much reduced in size garden overlooking four electrified train tracks immediately at the foot of their land down a 30ft sheer drop.
Trains will rumble by every ten to 15 minutes.
Mr Travers said: “All we have asked for is a contract to pay us for the land they are taking, but they are not listening.
“They have just sent us nasty letters.
“It is not right they are starting the work with no agreement on compensation.”
Householders in 14 terraced houses have signed a petition calling for workers to stay out of their gardens unless a payment of £10,000 can be agreed.
But with no agreement in place both parties are refusing to give ground.
An incident on April 30 saw a tree felling team working for Network Rail forced to leave one garden amid protests from local residents.
Under the scheme, which doubles the number of tracks from two to four, the homes will temporarily lose about a third of their long gardens – the bottom 40ft (12 metres).
The householder whose tree was started to be felled on April 30 did not wish to be named, but said:”I didn’t turn the tree fellers away, it was somebody else.
“I let them come into my garden and start the work and they left.
“At the end of the day the work is happening and there is a compulsory order in place, but I didn’t want to lose my tree I’ll be quite honest.
“And it is disappointing that so many mature trees have been cut down.
“And now we are left staring at all those factories.”
Compulsory purchase orders – know your rights
Compulsory purchase order (CPO) is a legal mechanism by which certain bodies, often councils, can acquire land without the consent of the owner, according to the government’s website.
It is important that you keep a comprehensive record of all communications with the acquiring authority, including notes of any meetings.
You should also keep detailed records of all expenses incurred and losses sustained as you may be able to recover these as part of your claim for compensation.
Those affected by compulsory purchase are under a duty to “mitigate losses”.
This means, effectively, that if you have to employ a removals firm, you need to get at least two quotes from reputable firms and opt for the cheapest.
Homeowners do have the right to submit an objection to the CPO this can be done either through a public inquiry or by written submissions.
There is generally a right to compensation if your land is compulsorily acquired.
This varies depending on the type of property – commercial, agricultural or residential.
In general though for residents, you can get compensation for:
- The value of the land taken
- Disturbance payments
- Loss payments
Anyone affected by a CPO is advised to seek professional guidance.
Retired Yorkshire Water employee Terry Binns, 69, has lived in his house for 40 years and planted many flowers and fruit trees.
His wife Karen, 60, erected a memorial to her parents in her garden, which she likes to sit beside, but that will now have to go because of the Network Rail work.
“It’s upsetting for me, it won’t be the same,” she said.
Mr Binns said:”When the work is being done we won’t be able to sit out in our garden and when it is completed we’ll be left with practically no garden at all.
“Our garden will be much smaller and will back on to a high drop onto busy and noisy train tracks – not a relaxing spot to sit at all.
“I’ve already dug out all my trees and roses and given them away in preparation because I couldn’t bear to lose them.”
“This whole process has been very threatening – we first received a compulsory purchase order through the door with no explanation at all about what it meant. It was really quite scary.
“It turns out they have the legal right to take away our land for the duration of the work.
“They had a meeting with us after that and told us what they were planning to do. They are going to dig out all of the banking and enforce our land with concrete before building it all back up again.
“I understand that they need to update the line and station but it’s not been handled very well and with no regard to the wildlife at all. We used to have foxes and badgers around here – not anymore.”
Network Rail has been contacted for comment.
