5G masts planned for main roads in Coventry due to "acute need"

[dutchman]

One will go in front of a row of houses



Plans have gone in for two 5G masts on main roads in Coventry. The 15-foot poles are set to go on land at Humber Road and Holyhead Road.

Mobile network company Three submitted the applications at the end of last month. In planning documents, the company stated that there is an "acute need" for the masts.

The Holyhead Road site is by a Coventry BMW dealership and was chosen as surrounding street lamps mean the mast won't stick out so much. "Options are extremely limited" in this area,the company said.

The new pole will bring about "significant connectivity improvements" including introducing 5G to new areas, it added. The Humber Road site is more residential with houses pictured near the spot where the mast will be installed.



Three's application accepted that there will be a "localised visual increase" from the new 15-foot pole. But it claimed that the mast "will assimilate well into the immediate street scene and not be detrimental."

The company also described the site as "the best available compromise" for an area where there is a mobile coverage gap. It listed 6 other rejected sites.

A Three spokesperson said: "Access to 5G has a vital role to play in boosting local economies, helping residents and businesses get faster and more reliable network coverage. This is why we’re working with the local council in Coventry to roll out the UK’s fastest 5G network so that we can keep everyone connected both now and in the future.

"While we try to keep mast sites as unobtrusive as possible, they do need to be situated near to where people will be using the service and, in many cases, in precise locations to ensure the widest breadth of coverage." A public consultation on the plans is open for comments until mid-September.

[rebbonk]

...the mast "will assimilate well into the immediate street scene and not be detrimental...

It's a eyesore!

Someone the other day described these masts as looking like toilet brushes, from the submitted drawing that looks not too far from the truth.

[dutchman]

When I first saw this one I thought the aliens had landed!

[dutchman]

Decision to turn down plans for 'eyesore' 5G mast hailed as 'victory for residents'



Campaigners are celebrating after plans to install an ‘eyesore’ phone mast in a Coventry neighbourhood were refused by the council. Cignal Infrastructure UK had applied for permission to erect the 15m 5G mast in Sutton Avenue, Mount Nod.

But yesterday officers at Coventry council turned down the application. The move has been welcomed as ‘excellent news’ by Cllr Gary Ridley, leader of the Conservative party on the council, who launched a petition against the plans.

A total of 133 people signed the petition.

In papers submitted as part of the application, Cignal Infrastructure said it was ‘committed to providing improved network coverage and capacity, most notably in relation to 5G services’. A planning statement admitted that there is a ‘highly considered balance between the need to extend practical coverage reach with that of increasing risk of visual amenity intrusion’ but added that there is an ‘acute need for a new base station to provide effective service coverage’.

The company said the proposed location would ‘assimilate well into the immediate street scene and not be detrimental’ and listed a number of alternative sites that had been considered and were deemed unsuitable, including Holmes Drive, Frederick Neal Avenue and Clifton Close.

But planning officers at the council disagreed that Sutton Avenue was a suitable site. In a letter outlining the decision to refuse the plans strategic lead for planning Rob Back said the 5G mast would be an ‘undesirable and highly conspicuous and incongruous feature within the street scene to the detriment of the visual amenities of the locality and the value of public open space’.

He added: “The applicant had failed to demonstrate that there are no technically feasible less harmful alternatives available.”

Cllr Ridley said: “This is a victory for residents who fought hard to stop the mast from being built. Residents are rightly proud of the area, and this would have detracted from their visual amenity. Although we accept the roll-out of these masts is inevitable, phone operators must not be allowed to act unilaterally. I would urge them to work closely with the Council, and the community, to ensure they are sited in appropriate locations.”