Openreach would like us to remind parishioners not to attach signs on their telephone poles as it can stop their engineers from working for safety reasons.
If you would like to put signs up on telephone poles then you will need to contact the National Notice Handling Centre who will check firstly if the request is feasible, they will then ask a local manager for their approval based on the locality (this can make a difference depending on the area, such as affixing a mirror to a pole may be fine in a rural area but more of a problem in a built up area etc).
This whole process can be quite lengthy as it sometimes requires a drive by visit etc.
Once they have gone through this checking process they will either allow or reject the request.
Their email address to send requests is NNHC@openreach.co.uk.
If an attachment is found that has not been approved then their engineers will remove it, if they can do so safely.
If they cannot remove it safely they would be expected to notify their manager, who will start the process of identifying the owner of the equipment to ask that they remove it. Of course this means that works that have been planned are delayed, faults can’t be repaired, new orders for service can’t be completed etc until the hazard is removed.
All of this comes at an expense and the owner of the attachment may be liable for these costs.
There may also be charged for any remedial works that are needed to make the pole safe again (right up to removing and replacing the pole if needed.
Many thanks for your co-operation.
