154. Salt in the wound

Considering the stresses of last week, I’ve been positive. So here we are, half past one in the morning, insomnia exacerbated by hand pain (hormone therapy) and by a contractor’s generator that sounds like I’ve left the tumble dryer on in the next room. I stand corrected: Dennis has left it on. Actually he hasn’t and it’s downstairs anyway but that’s the effect of the generator - a constant low thrum that you can feel in your body. Not even the supposed noise-excluding earphones can exclude this. My neighbour has contacted the out-of-hours number to complain but nothing will be done. I’ll ring tomorrow, get voicemail as usual and leave my third complaint. Noise is allowed from 7am (which is bad enough) to 6pm and is constant. No one has ever mentioned 24 hours a day.

I already was very upset. I’d had a wonderful reflexology/reiki session and was mighty chilled, then I drove up to see a new structure ahead of me, tucked behind the garage. I knew it was coming but it was still a shock to see foundations where the large detached house will be, towering over our garage. So then curiosity hit in and I went to the back of the garden to face what I’ve been trying to shut out: the construction over the fence. I cried. They’ve laid the foundations of a house and it is way closer to our boundary than the plans indicate.

This doesn’t look too bad (I couldn’t get the angle right to capture the distance) My arms were resting on our fence. That next fence is perhaps 1m away, then the grassy bank is perhaps another metre or two. It can’t be more than 10m to those foundations and five of those are the landscaped buffer! They are cheating, sneaking a bit here and a bit there to get more housing in and I can’t see how it can be stopped. Lisa has a solicitor looking into it as her situation is even worse but it doesn’t look good. And still the parish council boasts of how successfully they’ve negotiated with Miller Homes. They should try speaking to a few residents. Noise 24/7 is almost debilitating.

I just want to move. We can’t. I’m not up to it, we can’t downsize and the value of our house has plummeted. Woodview? I shall be able to stand in my garden and see in every window of this house.  We are supposed to be two gardens apart, with a 5 metre boundary between. Huh! And there’s a pair of semis to be squeezed in, plus 4 further detached houses. I feel sickened. If you’re interested, heres’ the plan. Ignore it if you want - it doesn’t mean much to anyone now: