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Phone mast bid set for failure
United Kingdom Created: 28 Aug 2008
PLANNERS were today set to throw out an application by a mobile phone firm to instal a "flagpole"-style mast close to a Grade I listed church in a South Yorkshire town centre.

Telecommunications company 02, which is part of the Spanish firm Telefonica, has applied to put the mast up on a building in College Street in the centre of Rotherham.

The firm says the 6.6 metres (22ft) structure is required to "provide 3G coverage to the residential and commercial properties of Rotherham". A 3G signal allows users to access the internet and make video calls on their phones.

Plans submitted to Rotherham Council show the mast on the roof of 22, College Street, a three-storey building which is currently occupied by a shop that sells O2 phones and accessories.

Company bosses said in their submission that the mast would resemble a flagpole, but would include associated equipment cabinets, safety matting and a hooped access ladder.

If permission is granted, the flagpole would be centrally positioned on the roof of the building towards the front and would be painted white with a decorative top. Around 4.4 metres would be visible from ground level.

O2 has supplied a supporting statement for its application which includes a list of 10 alternative sites that have been considered for the development but rejected as unsuitable by the company's engineers.

In the past, local authorities have had difficulty rejecting proposals for mobile phone masts of any description, mainly because objections have centred on health worries, which are not planning considerations.

But in a report to be presented to councillors at a meeting in Rotherham today planning officers say that the application can be rejected because of the proximity of the town's All Saints' minster church.

The authority's conservation and urban design officer warns that the mast would damage views of the town's church if it were given permission, particularly when the building is viewed from a distance.

His report says: "It is not the views in the churchyard that will be sensitive but the longer ones where the mast will be visible and fight with the tower and spire of the church as a challenging statement.

"The new mast in the form of a flagpole is a hybrid shape, thicker than a normal flagpole and coloured white, which will make it stand out. In my view this proposal will adversely affect the setting of this Grade I listed building and must be resisted."

Planning officers also say that the mast would have a negative effect on the town's "prime shopping street" and add that Government policy states new mobile phone base stations should be located on existing installations and not in new locations.

Their report adds: "While the mast would not be immediately seen from College Street it is adjacent to the church of All Saints, which is a Grade I listed building.

"It is considered that it would be visible over a wide area, detrimentally affecting the setting of the building. It is considered that the proposed development would be unacceptable at this town centre location and a more suitable site should be found."

No-one from O2 was available to comment on the application, due to be discussed at a meeting of Rotherham Council's planning board at the town hall.
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Source: Yorkshire Post, Martin Slack, 28 Aug 2008

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