Living behind a security barrier - Would you feel protected or imprisoned?

What about if you went out and left your phone at home?! Would the barrier be climbeable?

Will you have a very long walk to collect your parcel when the HDL driver chucks it over the gates?

There are so many things to be considered.

Do postmen carry mobile phones at all times?

There is a road with security gates near us. They've never worked for long. They've given up on 'em now and the things just stay open all the time.

My eldest lives in a gated community in California. It is considered quite normal there, and it would certainly make me feel safer. However there are at least 200 flats inside the gate, and the only security is the coded lock on the gate - there is not a concierge watching all the comings and goings, so I'm not sure how secure it is.

In your situation though, in the middle of the countryside with farmland all around you and hardly any other residents affected by the gate, it seems a bit over the top. Surely access is possible through any hedge or fence around the boundaries, so, in a way, I can't see what the point of it is. Either way, many here will envy you your idyllic living conditions!

I wouldn't be bothered by having to punch in a code to get into my driveway, though - after all, you have a key to get into your house.

As to the questions

- If anything, it may even increase the value of the property
- you could ask if you can put a phone number near the gate, so impromptu visitors can call you and ask for the code - anyone who is likely to call can be informed in advance
- emergencies: There will surely be an emergency system in place (e.g. in case of power cuts). This will affect the farmer, too, so you could check that with him.

As you say, the land belongs to the farmer, and it is his right to protect his expensive farming equipment.

I don't envy 'er living conditions. I would be shit scared!

Merlot are there cows?

(Mind you, the chooks would scare the life out of me [shudder])

Sadly, no cows, jingl as it's all arable round here.

I have yet to break the news to DD who is working this weekend but I'll catch her for a glass of in the garden this evening. She and the DGCs live here now so their lives must be considered as well. The boys have friends to-ing and fro-ing all the time.

JackyB There is no access through hedges (there aren't any) or across fields as we are on fenland and the fields are surrounded by drains which make them inaccessable.

There will be a meeting about it but I know from experience that farming can in some cases still be a very chauvanistic industry and running it past DH before 'er indoors' gets wind of it was just what I would have expected.

Legally they have to have our permission but we don't want a lengthy/expensive battle and we don't want to be at war with our farming neighbours as we've got along pretty well in the past.

I think you can still punch the code into the barrier itself. The mobile technique is just to prevent you having to get out of your car but I'm not sure about that.

Seeing as most rural theft takes place at night a good compromise would be to have it open all day and closed at night. Maybe they'll go for that.

To some extent, I can understand why the other party would need it - theft of farm machinery is big business now; it is stolen to order. But, having said that, I can see that it might be mighty convenient to you, and those who visit you, and, like you, I think I would take exception to having someone else's security thrust on me. What about emergency vehicles - ambulances and the like? I think I might also be nervous about having to get out of my car half a mile from my house on a dark, possibly wet, night to fiddle about with a coded lock. Will there be lighting? The only time I have to deal with a coded lock is at a fishery I visit in the Peak District so that I can take the car up the forest track to access the banks. They write the code down for me on my fishery ticket but the lock is so fiddly it sometimes takes a good five minutes to get the b****y gate open. Once, I posted my ticket in the catch return box and forgot that the code (which of course I couldn't remember) was on it. I had to phone the office, which is not always manned. In the meantime, I was marooned behind the gate. Now I write it on the back of my hand! You will not have this problem because you're not an idiot like me!

i wouldn't like it and most of our land isn't even fenced but an awful lot of the houses in the Algarve do have it. One friend has had her property fenced and electric gates fitted since she has been widowed which I can understand in that she feels more secure. Another friend moved to a small new terrace of townhouses and all of them have six foot decorative fences round their small front gardens and electronic gates.
For some reason it makes me feel less likely to drop in and it is an absolute pain if it's raining.

Obviously I don't know the layout of the properties but would it be possible to instal a gate further along the access road? After your house but before the farm?

Possibly the farmer wants the gate to keep his insurance cost down.

I would love it for our 18 properties as that would resolve a major parking problem in one go but at great cost.

I do feel sorry for the farmer because he has to look after his valuable equipment. I personally do not see a problem.

Farm theft is a growing problem. Many items of kit used by farmers can cost up to £50,000 or more, and offers big returns for thieves prepared to take it and ship it abroad. the same applies to rustling. I read recently of a farmer who had a large flock of sheep stolen overnight.

Can the barrier have a notice on it saying 'For access to Farm Cottage (or whatever Merlot's house is called). Please ring: 12121212' or can any form of intercom be fixed up?

Have you discussed the issue with the farmer?

We will have a meeting, Monica. You can't have a number actually on the barrier because it would allow access to anyone planning to steal machinery.

DH managed the farm for twenty years so we are well aware of security problems and the value of machinery and obviously we will do our best to come to an amicable agreement BUT we own our property whereas the tied cottages further down the farm road are occupied by farmworkers so they will probably have no say in the matter.

We need to take advice as to how a large barrier restricting access might affect the value of our property.

I'm still hoping they'll go for my idea of only having it locked at night.

Personally I can't see a problem.
Not saying there isn't one, but it wouldn't bother me.

I didn't mean the code Merlot I meant a phone number so that if anyone came to the barrier with a delivery for you they could ring you to let you know they were there.

Assuming we're in, Monica.

If we were expecting a delivery we would make the necessary arrangements but I don't like the thought of everything having to be so organised.

I'm going to check with the parish council because I think it's an old bridleway. I haven't seen any horses being ridden this way for a good few years - I was probably the last but there have been a few cyclists. They, of course can lift their bikes over the sticky up bit at the bottom.

What sort of a barrier would it be? "sticky up bit at the bottom"?!

Perhaps you ought to take your DD with you when you go to chew it over with the farmer. And perhaps the GSs too. Go en masse.

If it's a bridleway they might try to get round that by leaving a small footpath type gate at the side

I think that there are relatively inexpensive electronic devices for breaking 4-digit codes. It would probably be worthwhile for criminals who regularly steal expensive farm equipment to invest in one. I don't know about longer codes.

The farm already has one at their main entrance. It's a bloody great big thing with a barrier that drops down and metal plates that stick up at the bottom but drop down when the barrier is lifted. You often see lorries queueing up to go through. Our entrance is just a few yards from a main railway crossing so they would have to build a lay-by for large vehicles to wait because if they don't know the code they have to contact someone.

It's a busy and fast main road, people drive at speed over the crossing and because the road is open and visibility good, they tend to indicate they are about to overtake before they've even gone over it. When I want to turn right to drive up the farm road I indicate before the crossing and slow right down so they can see my brake lights. Because they assume I'm also going to overtake whatever is in front they expect me to speed up so I often get flashing lights and a blast on the horn. I have often been overtaken just as I'm about to turn right as they are too impatient to notice the turn off. .....It's a very dangerous road.

If they put a barrier on the stretch of farm road between us and the tied cottages we will run the risk of lorries backing up on to our land.

The more I think about it the more I don't like it.

I hate to say I this Merlot but if they own the farm road they could possibly say that giving you the code is allowing you your right of way. I think the only concession you might be able to insist on is the small foot gate at the side, which wouldn't actually help you much.

Do you think you should speak to someone legal, either at the council, or a solicitor, to find out your rights before you discuss it with the farmer? But I know you don't want bad relations with them. Difficult one.

I wonder if the planning side of this has been considered as nothing is ever as simple as it at first appears. Obstructing a busy road would be a big issue and the farmer may find at the very least he has to provide a layby for vehicles waiting to enter. You should be able to get good advice to try and forestall any problem that might arise and someone else might see a necessity you might not envisage.
Most folk are fairly able to cope with the technology of a barrier and even I wouldn't be fazed by this. Farming friends have lost valuable equipment and the insurance company usually insists on preventative measures being put in place after a claim. The farmers argument may well be as jings says in that you are not losing your access. You would also arguably be gaining in security.