GerryB

Eon eventually agreed to install a 3 phase smart meter for us. Covid caused delay to suppliers who were about to start offering because thire testing was stalled during the lockdowns etc

Speedwell - 'wild' Veronica - weeds are only plants in the wrong place, so if you like it leave it alone as a wild flower. There are many varieties of Veronica, wild (including this & a small creeping one in lawns & grasses) & cultivated (tend to have bigger bushier flower spikes).

Has anyone priced up a solar car port? Our PP included a car port 7x4m with a SW facing monopitch roof. We are planning on standing seam metal roofing, and the car port is one of the possible locations for our intended ~4kW solar pv array. If the area is completely covered with pv panels, it seems daft to have a standing seam roof under it, so a solar car port would seem to make sense, although I've no idea about the cost (saving).

Where geographically is your plot J&D? We have our fingers crossed, but we have heard that esbs (earl shilton building society) who our mortgage application is with have found a valuer prepared to value our plot in Derbyshire. We are waiting for them to contact us to make arrangements so that they can work round our groundworks team who are getting on with the job.

It's been a busy few months. We have finally sold up (completion was on Friday 13th March) and moved into a lovely rented house in Middleton-by-Wirksworth. The Coronavirus struck and so we are feeling very lucky that the sale and move had happened. Our biggest problem at the moment is moving our money around so that it earns a bit of interest and is protected by fscs. It is very difficult to open new accounts in this coronavirus lockdown when you have a new address - you fail all the id checks and don't have lots of original or certified proofs of identity or address to prove that you are a real person. Advice to anyone in a similar position - open new accounts before you move! We are also in the process of obtaining a smallish mortgage as we ended up selling the house for less that we hoped. Let's hope there are no hiccups there. We are both retired (but with good occupational pensions) but our financial adviser struggled to find a lender. Earl Shilton Building Society was the only one he found, and our application seems to be progressing OK. However, our build has started, or rather the earth is being moved around. The site has been cleared & the big digger is now on site. We have a drive, but our electricity will not now be connected tomorrow as had been planned. Our builder is trying to continue for as long as possible. Coronavirus is not making it easy (our project manager had to self-isolate down south for two weeks, and we are now self-isolating due to me having a fever for 24hours. This means no up to date photos at this stage. How do I start a blog?

Hi 18 months ago we found a large (2.85acres) sloping site with outline consent on a small part of it. A fortnight ago planning permission was granted for our contemporary build (full application as our plans were bigger than the red line of the outline consent). The planning officer liked our plans (we had paid for pre-planning twice) and recommended approval. We were almost caught out - the Town Council objected because our plot is designated as green corridor in the emerging neighbourhood plan and Highways were quibbling about visibility splays. So more expert reports including landscaping plan for the whole site were hurriedly done. We own the private road with six houses on it. We worked hard to get our neighbours on our side and three submitted support for our application (three had objected to the original outline application). We need not have worried, the planning committee loved it approval and gave unanimous. So here we go. OnS638_310-05_PROP-ELEV 1.pdf 1039-SCD 01B Landscape Masterplan.pdf