Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Gospel Oak - Barking line: Network Rail's ugly new fence
I live on Lothair Road North and was dismayed to see a tall, shiny and very ugly new fence appear at the bottom of my garden last week as part of Network Rail's Gospel Oak - Barking line electrification work (image attached).
I appreciate the need for a fence for safety reasons and also acknowledge that residents were informed of the plans. But we weren't told what kind of fence or what it would look like. Given half the appeal of these houses is the extra green you get from backing on to the railway line it seems like a real bully move by Network Rail to pick such a visually intrusive model. Why a pallisade fence rather than chainlink? Or could they not at least have painted it green?
I called this morning to complain about how the whole thing was handled and suggest that Network rail offer a paint job or some disguising planting as a neighbourly gesture and was told planting was a definite no and painting was very unlikely.
I was also warned that I'd be trespassing if I went up there to plant anything myself. Although apparently it's OK if I stand on my side of the fence and lean over to throw some seeds!
Who else backs onto the line and has been affected by this? Has anyone else cntacted Network Rail, and if so, what response did you get?
I realise that with Trump's proposed wall etc, an ugly fence is way down the list of global things to worry about but still...IMG_6873.JPG
Tags for Forum Posts: barking to gospel oak line, overground
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Gordon T on
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Here's a link to a discussion from last year (started by another Lothair Road North resident):
http://www.harringayonline.com/forum/topics/railway-fence-what-will...
Ivy will eventually cover most things.....
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You're not suggesting planting Japanese knotweed are you?
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Phew! Although apparently Railway Fields has it's own non-invasive variety Harringay Knotweed....or is it Haringey Knotweed....anyway perhaps they would be able to provide some starter seedlings (or whatever they are called - I'm not very green-fingered)
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I'm just guessing but I think there are technical design standards they have to adhere to. A chain link fence simply wouldn't be sufficiently secure. I don't think you'll get much out of them. It's their fence on their land. I back onto Railway Fields and it was the same deal when they replaced that. If I were you, I would get some green paint and paint it myself. Or actually black might look quite smart.
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Permalink Reply by Maddy on
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It's very ugly, Clare - like a prison compound. I feel your distress having gone through a similar experience with Railway Fields a few years back - they replaced the whole fence at three days notice with no consultation, ripping out the ivy which they were supposed to be conserving and destroying a thrush's nest which had been there for years.
I fought the council about it - from being a sturdy open pallisade fence through which you could see the trees it became a flat panel one which felt like having a high wall twenty feet from my back door. Eventually they agreed to replace just my part with a more open style one, which is standing up to the ivy and creeper much better than the ones further up.
I would wait a while until the work is finished, then slap some green paint on your side and either wait for the ivy or Virginia creeper or plant something to cover it. Then see if they kick up a fuss.
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The small sections of this kind of fencing on either side of the New River bridges on Ladder roads are painted dark matt green and don't look bad - at least you can see through them.
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I'm very surprised that you have had the max-strength pallisade fence imposed on you.
Your picture indicates the terrain, but if I were a low-life trying to get onto the railway or 'tag' the railway bridge I'd try it not from a local enclosed back garden (without, I believe, a back alley - same the other side of the railway where I live) but from a more accessible site (cough, obvs, the wall +embankment adjoining Green Lanes). Perhaps Network Rail just carried on banging in fence posts.
As others say, painting / misting with compost juice (good for building up microbiota - alright, sticky gunge) / clingy evergreen climbers are medium-term options.
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Permalink Reply by Protheroe O'Shea on
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I'm on Lothair South, I don't particularly like the fence but it has added about 1.5 feet to the length of our garden. The ivy and Virginia creeper should cover it in a few months. I'm ripping down the old network rail chain link fence and widening my borders.
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Permalink Reply by Glenn Wallis on
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I'm surprised you've received the full industrial strength pallisade fencing. Along the Boundary Road - Queen's Road section in Walthamstow the fence is black steel railings. I assume a different contractor was used for your section of boundary and NR forgot to specify a type of fencing and so you got the bog standard pallisade.
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