‘Ridiculous’ 55-foot tall 5G mast plans for Gloucestershire village …
Plans for a “ridiculous” 55-foot tall 5G mast in a village[1] on the edge of Cheltenham have been rejected. CK Hutchison Networks (UK) Limited sought permission from Cheltenham[2] Borough Council to install the mast along with six supporting antennas, two equipment cabinets and an electric meter cabinet in Rivelands Road.
The proposed site was on an area of grass at the junction with Church Road, just a few yards from the ancient Church of St Lawrence. However, more than a hundred people objected to the plans and ward councillor Bernie Fisher[3] (LD, Swindon Village) said there probably isn’t a worse place to site such a mast in the village.
He has called for the proposals to be referred to the planning committee so that councillors can decide whether or not the scheme should be granted permission. But the plans were refused before they even got to that stage, officers rejecting them under delegated powers.
“If you’d tried to pick a worse place to put it you’d be bloody hard done to find one. It’s absolute nonsense,” he previously said. “Some of the places they are picking to put them up are ridiculous.”
The company said the proposed new mast would fill the gap in service provision and provide high quality, reliable, advanced 3G, 4G and 5G to this area of Swindon Village. However, the council rejected the bid for prior approval due to the mast’s size, siting and appearance.
Council officers under delegated powers said the tower would have a “detrimental impact on the design and character of the area, including that of the Swindon Village Conservation Area.” The council said the scheme went against the Cheltenham[5] plan, the joint core strategy and national planning policies.
References
- ^ “ridiculous” 55-foot tall 5G mast in a village (www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk)
- ^ Cheltenham (www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk)
- ^ Bernie Fisher (www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk)
- ^ Fears thousands of people are being let down by Gloucestershire council’s ‘appalling’ IT systems (www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk)
- ^ Cheltenham (www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk)