Plans for a 57-foot tall mobile phone mast at Pudsey St Lawrence Cricket Club have been REFUSED by council planners.
Developers said the mast will help provide 4G coverage in the town, but a public consultation by planning consultants Pegasus Group drew 21 objections from 23 responses. The remaining two comments were offers of alternative sites at Grangefield Storage, and land behind Prospect Court off Owlcotes Road.
But council chief planning officer Tim Hill has said the mast would be ‘incongruous and poorly located’. He said:
“The Local Planning Authority consider that the proposed 17.5m high monopole, by reason of its design, scale and prominent position visible across the open land of the cricket pitch, would be an incongruous and poorly located addition to the locality, to the detriment of visual amenity.”
WLD reported in June that a public consultation on the proposals at the Tofts Road cricket club had met with a mixed reaction from residents.
A planning report accompanying the application had said the new mast would blend in with existing vegetation and replace the existing one currently housed in nearby Pudsey Parish Church and would:
“Maintain network coverage across the Pudsey where coverage will shortly be reduced dramatically through the decommissioning of a nearby existing site.”
A vote for common sense, so pleased planning has been refused for this mast. The one on top of the church could be upgraded we don’t really need anymore, when you look around, our small town has quite a number already
Another victory for the ‘angry villagers with pitchforks’ brigade who don’t seem to want anything built in Pudsey. Ever.
I wonder if these same yokels will be the first to complain when their mobile phones don’t work.
Not sure these people are concerned about preserving the town’s heritage, more about keeping it stuck in the past.
Let’s hope no-one’s business depends on good 4G connections …
And the Pudsey nimby brigade strikes again ….