matstand

HI Both. There were orginally 13 airshafts, all 140+ years old, under the town of sevenoaks. some of which have buildings a mere 3-4 m away. no real guisance. They havent yet, and I would be concerned that they would want a large engineering consultancy that would not be interested in helping me with my small requirement for a single dwelling. m

Hello I'm trying to get permission to build in garden. which is complicated by the nearby presence of a railway airshaft. (more details https://forum.buildhub.org.uk/topic/36112-network-rail-and-the-air-shaft/ ) Network Rail have previously stated that the shaft has a Zone of Influence (ZOI) of 15m, which takes up most of the building opportunity. But they have just admittedly that the ZOI is calculated by a simplistic method (and even that isnt applied correctly) and that they would be ammenable to reviewing a ZOI calculated by alternative method and presented in a TMS desk Study. Does anyone know what sort of engineering company I need to find that can calculate this for me? thanks

and a bit more detail. network rail asset protection have said the following NR Structures and they have provided the drawing below which shows the area of influence for the ventilation shaft (blue circle). As you can see this covers the majority of your plot and this is why your request has been rejected at the technical clearance stage. I understand that this will be disappointing but this is the final decision from NR regarding consent to build. which is clearly nonsense as 15 m from the tunnel, according to their supplied map. actually covers the corners of two properties. one build 40 years ago and one build 100 years ago.

Thanks Ian That is really helpful advice. This is in sevenoaks, kent. The London to Hastings train line goes under the garden. Here is a link to one of the airshafts Airshaft ( not "mine"). If you Google maps tn13 1pb you can see the shaft, and os maps has the tunnel line marked and all the airshafts. I will let you know how I get on.

Hello I was wondering if anyone has any experience with Network Rails asset protection team? I have a house with a large garden, too large for me to cope with if I am honest. I am pretty certain that I'd get planning permission to self build on one half the garden, so i could sell the original house and be mortgage free. The problem I have. is Network Rail. A significant railway tunnel runs 150m under my garden, which isnt a directly a problem. But there is 150 year old airshaft for the tunnel adjacent to my garden, air is forced through the tunnel as trains piston through it. My town has 15 such airvents, and many of them have buildings erected adjacent to them, in all cases the buildings were erected after the tunnels, but they were all done decades ago under different planning/building rules. I The network Rail asset protection team, have stated that they will object to any building that is proposed within 15m of the tunnel, which makes building a non starter. I've pointed out how this is inconsistent with plenty of properties, but they are saying "our engineer has guidance that you need to be 15 m away from the tunnel" This rule seems arbitrary and made up. as in one case there is a building just 3 m away from the tunnel. and within 5m of the tunnel is a significant road that gts busses, dustcarts and lorries thundering up and down. Can anyone suggest a route to challenging Network Rail on this point? There is a complexity with the deeds of my property, that ensures that I really need Network Rail to be willing participants, I probably couldn't proceed if I forced planning permission through. any thoughts welcome, I am loath to spend professional fees on planning consultants/engineers without this issue being dealt with.

thanks everyone good advice.

Hello. Thank you all for advice so far. I haven't spoken to the people who have built over the tunnel, and can't be certain that their deeds contain the same covenant, but I will find out. Does any one know what sort of specialist could help me to understand the issue in detail?

Hello. We have a property in central sevenoaks, with a large garden. We should get planning to build a 3/4 bed detached house on the garden, with a view to selling on to self builder. However. Our property is on hill with a train tunnel running (100m) below our garden. This should not prevent building, as other properties have been recently built over the tunnel. The issue is, our deeds. The include a 160 year old clause that appears to give a rail company (which is now network rail). The right to veto any building works in the garden. I know I should probably approach the assett protection department of network rail, but I am loath to do this. If I ask their permission, it feels like I am acknowledging their right to veto. My solicitors were pretty useless and couldn't really advise me. I was wondering what else I could do, if their is a type of consultant who specialises in this kind of issue? Or should I just seek planning and then try and sell it that way. Any thoughts welcome. Thanks