THE LAW IS AN ASS

In fact, not only is it an ass it is an asshole. Unless you have very deep pockets the law is only for big corporations and is grossly biased in their favour. There is supposed to be something called the Overriding Objective which is intended to put both sides of a case on an equal footing and make the potential costs proportionate to the value of the claim. In my recent experience I was up against Electricity Northwest. Effectively I had nothing. They could afford to pay over £130,000 to claim a tiny strip of land that was of no value or use to them, other than as stick to beat me with. The Overriding Objective was never even referred to and when I mentioned it I was ignored.
I had a much better case than ENW and if it had been a level playing field I would have won. They used their corporate might to bring about a miscarriage of justice, I couldn’t afford to risk £130,000 costs if they won and have to demolish the wall of my house, thus rendering it worthless. Not sure why they would want to make me do that when the house was the only asset that would have paid my costs if I had lost, but they are not very proactive, or perhaps they hoped to get it for a “song”. I didn’t think I would get a fair hearing anyway; one old hippie anarchist alone against a roomful of solicitors, barristers, surveyors and various “experts” all on several hundred pounds an hour. Bearing in mind the value of the land in question, less than £100,000, £99,999 less, it should have been assigned to the small claims track, where the costs are capped at £1,500.
I was discussing all this informally with a surveyor; he said all these big companies are the same especially the privatised utilities and services. Corporate monoliths who use their financial might to crush any individuals who might be misguided enough to get in their way. He no longer gets involved in these cases, preferring to sleep at night. Obviously, even judges are afraid of them, so I have done quite well, considering.
Perhaps ENW think they have won as I had to accept their offer!! With the benefit of hindsight given their resources, complete lack of pragmatism or willingness to compromise and the incredibly biased legal and other systems I never had a chance. No wonder it drives people into direct action, at least that works!! And doesn’t cost a lot unless you get caught.
It is however a pyrrhic victory; it was not an amicable settlement but a pragmatic one on my part, made under duress. Far from being the full and final settlement it says on the settlement document it is just the beginning and they and all the others who helped them will now have me on their back while there is breath in my body. Following my recent health problems I thought that may not be long, perhaps I could haunt them from beyond the grave?
The Court proceedings have been a distraction; now I can get back to fighting privatisation, capitalism, the mast and destroying the reputations of ENW, their CEO Peter Emery and the rest of their ilk.
Under the terms of the settlement I am allowed to acknowledge that there has been a settlement but not any of the conditions contained in it. They obviously realise what they have done is very wrong and incredibly bad PR. It’s a bit pointless anyway as all the conditions are on my and ENW’s land registry deeds, and a matter of public record. My title deeds CU168339, ENW’s title deeds CU 241849. However, it will be made even more accessible when I have sold Eden Barn and they are named and shamed.
It slightly goes against the grain letting them win when I know I am in the right and effectively having to buy my own land, but £130,000 is a hell of a lot of money and £1 is not very much at all, it must have cost them over £100,000 so far, However, there are several advantages for me, and they have already done a lot of damage to themselves. I am still looking into or will be the legality of them selling me land that doesn’t belong to them, but they seem to be able to get away with anything, a bit like Boris but not as smart.
However, the threats of prohibitive costs and having to demolish the wall of my house have been removed. As well as the £100,000 or so it has cost them, their Operations Director, who I was originally dealing with, has been sacked, which I predicted, CEO next? They will have me on their backs for evermore and they will be named and shamed. Following that they will become a prime target for direct action throughout the northwest. They will also have to run their main substation in Grange at a reduced load, despite all the new houses being built and the increase in the numbers of electric cars; or rapidly move and or replace the transformers. Two at about £1million each I am told by one of their engineers. When a company refuses to make even the smallest compromise they give people no alternative but to take direct action. An activist friend of a friend said sabotage should be the first step not the last, these companies are the scum of the earth; to go to the law you are putting the dispute into territory that favours them.
They are in breach of several civil engineering rules/guidelines. No new development at an existing substation should be higher than the existing buildings, there should be a 2/3m wide clear area around the perimeter fence and I am sure there must be a limit on how close they can go to existing dwellings. When I pointed this out was when they sacked their Operations Director so there must be something in it
For my part, my successors in title and I now have FORMAL access arrangements over ENW’s land at the back of the house which I didn’t have before. Most of the conditions are related to access arrangements, are not that onerous and they won’t even affect me when I have sold the house. The two conditions that relate to me personally are easily circumvented.
Bear in mind this is all over a tiny strip of land that is of absolutely no use to them other than as a stick to beat me with. The encroachment of Eden Barn was invented by the Operations Director who was sacked. If anything it is their f*****g mast that is encroaching. As well as being over a hundred grand worse off, they are in a worse position now than when they started. They could have stuck to the original agreement and put the mast in my woodland away from houses and out of sight. If they had bought Eden Barn as I suggested in the first place it would have cost them nothing because they would still have the asset. They would have had complete control over the substation area and would potentially save £millions in the future as well as their reputation. They could still do that but obviously they will not get back what they have already wasted.  
They could have refrained from persecuting me and starting the Court action, but they chose to be vindictive even though I have done absolutely nothing wrong.
All the organisations that should have supported me, haven’t; the planning dept, police, regulator and especially the Court. However, I don’t have to be as careful now anything goes. The old hippie anarchist has made fools of them all.
Viva la revolution.

THE ALTERNATIVE PARTY AND THATCHER’S TOXIC LEGACY. BRITISH JUSTICE

I have been ill and just come out of hospital. Apparently, I am now diabetic!! you might have noticed that I haven’t posted anything for a while, but now I am back. I have accepted the settlement offer from Electricity Northwest and the matter is no longer sub judice, I have warned them many times what is now coming to them, and they won’t like it!! They cannot threaten to me now, but I am a big threat to them!!

I didn’t have much choice but to accept their offer; they used their corporate might with the collusion of the Courts to bring about a miscarriage of justice. I had to accept their offer, but it is not a judgement!! no Court has ever found in their favour. Their legal costs alone were over £50,000 which I would have been liable to pay by default if I had withdrawn my defence. If the matter had gone on to a hearing there would have been another £80,000+ and if I had lost I would also have had to demolish the wall of my house. I had no confidence that I would even have had a fair hearing.

ENW must have spent well over £100,000 of their customers money, which they won’t get back; I had to spend £1 to buy my own land, it was conditional, but I am not allowed to divulge the conditions, they obviously don’t want anyone to know what they have done and what sort of people they are. More of this in due course, I will divulge the conditions in the next post.

Bear in mind that this whole matter was over a narrow strip of land that even if I had been encroaching, which I wasn’t, was of absolutely no use to them. Was it vindictiveness because I had the audacity to try and stop them putting a fifty foot mast 60cm. from the wall of my house? I will leave you to come to your own conclusions about that but what else would it be? I asked them at the beginning what their objective was but just like all the other questions I have asked they refused to answer.

So, they could have bought Eden Barn then they could have done whatever they wanted with the substation; it would have cost them nothing because they would always have had the house. Or they could have put their mast out of sight in the woodland of my other house nearby, that would have cost £21000, saved them a huge amount of time and effort and saved them from making an unsightly development in the Grange Conservation Area. I also offered them other  alternatives.

What they chose to do was spend a massive amount of time and effort and well over £100,000 of their customers money, to make an unsightly, unneighbourly development and leave themselves in an even worse position than when they started. The agreement has been much more beneficial to me than to them, more details in the next post. We have seen their ethics; we have to question if they are even competent but I am not allowed to say anything derogatory about them even though everything I have ever said is true, so I will leave you to decide that.

This is the second time I have had direct personal experience of the corruption caused by privatization, which has been an unmitigated disaster and led to all our infrastructure and essential services being run by cowboys whose only objective is to screw as much profit from it as possible. In the case of power networks, the profit margin is 43%, the highest of any sector including private equity.

The CEO is Peter Emery, ENW will be named and shamed and with a bit of luck, I will be able to use the whole business as a launching pad for The Alternative Party, see post of 11^th December 2019, I might even make Eden Barn the headquarters. It will be a party of common sense, identifying the truth in all matters and exposing corruption. If only we could have solidarity we could get a much better deal for the majority, not just Boris and his chums.

Revenge is a dish best taken cold.