A Sebastopol couple say their house was damaged when Powercor installed their smart meter and now they’ve been slapped with a costly repair bill.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
An electrical lead was pulled away from Sandra and Philip Gitsham’s fascia board during the installation of their smart meter on Tuesday and the couple is calling for the energy distributor to foot the cost.
But when they contacted Powercor about the problem, they were the ones told to pay.
“My husband has said ‘you’ve come onto our property’,” Ms Gitsham said.
“They’ve pulled it away from the fascia board and they’ve told us blatantly that we’d have to pay to have it fixed.
“They told us our fascia board was rotten. It’s not rotten. It’s just an insult.”
Mr Gitsham said an electrician had estimated the repair job at $1100.
A Powercor spokesperson said the distributor was still in talks with the couple.
He said the point of attachment had come off the fascia while the installer was replacing the fuse.
“They still have electricity,” he said.
“That particular piece of property is the customer’s. This particular type can deteriorate over time.
“We’re still in conversations with them.”
Mystery over
forest sign posts
A number of mysterious sign posts have been in the ground for months in the Enfield State Forest, a resident of the area says.
But where are the signs?
In fact, a lack of location signage in general seems to be a problem in this section of forest at Ross Creek.
There used to be timber signage in the forest, which has been vandalised and taken down over the years.
A resident was concerned about the ramifications for our emergency services with the start of fire season.
“(The posts) are all still sitting there with no sign writing on them,” he said.
“Perhaps they are waiting for them to grow?
“If emergency vehicles go out there they wouldn’t have a clue what road they were on.”
A spokesperson said the Department of Sustainability and Environment was currently replacing old or damaged signs as part of normal forest management works.
She said the new signs were designed to be more durable.