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Friday, March 26, 2010

Man rejects eruv wire across front window 

A PENSIONER is fighting to shift the position of a metal pole to be placed outside his house as part of a religious boundary.

Walter Fenner, 82, from Stapleton Road, Borehamwood, met with Hertsmere Borough Council’s planning committee on Wednesday afternoon to discuss putting the pole in a different place.

The boundary around Borehamwood, called an eruv, was approved in July 2007, and amendments to the plan were unanimously approved by councillors in November last year.

The poles will create an area in which Orthodox Jews can carry out tasks usually prohibited on the Sabbath, such as carrying or pushing. Currently, some observant Jews who have small children or have to walk with an aid cannot leave the house on the Sabbath and therefore cannot visit a synagogue.

Mr Fenner said: “I have no objection to the eruv itself but I just don’t want the pole to be where it is. It will be up against my front garden wall and as my house is raised up from the street, the wire will be in my sight line across my front window.

“I have given them three alternative locations and all of them have been rejected. No decision was made at the meeting and I have been informed I will be told later what will happen.”

The eruv will have wires on poles 6m high, linking existing structures, such as fences and walls.

Mr Fenner added: “How many people are actually aware of where exactly the poles are going to go in their areas? If they realised, they may have objections too.

“I will wait now and see what happens but I’m not positive about the outcome.”

Councillor Derrick Gunasekera (Conservative), chairman of the Elstree and Borehamwood planning committee, said: “The meeting was good to get everyone together to talk about the situation.

“We are now going back to the drawing board and planning officers will sit down with highways officers to come up with a decision, which we hope to have shortly.”

http://www.borehamwoodtimes.co.uk/news/5085773.Man_rejects_eruv_wire_across_front_window/

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