Plan for 5G mast in Spalding's Wygate Park has drawn opposition from South Holland politicians
Plans for a 5G phone mast in Spalding have drawn opposition from politicians - who say it would be a ‘major blot’ on the landscape.
CK Hutchison - which operates the Three mobile phone network - has made a third bid to build a mast in Wygate Park.
The firm failed twice to get plans passed for land at the junction with Claudette Avenue last year - and was also knocked back in attempts to put masts elsewhere in the town.
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Its latest plan is for a more ‘slimline’ design - but would still see a 15m mast put up.
District councillor Roger Gambba-Jones, ward member for the area, described the mast and its accompanying cabinets as ‘an industrial and inappropriate’ structure and says no effort has been made to camouflage it.
In a submission to the council’s planning department, he wrote: “The application site could hardly be more prominent when seen from the road itself.
“It is highly visible over significant distances from both directions as one approaches Claudette Avenue junction.
“A structure of this nature would be a major blot on an otherwise open and fairly uncluttered landscape.
“The introduction of this alien and industrial structure into this residential environment will detract from the general attractiveness of the area.
“It will also spoil the general enjoyment gained from that location as part of the linear park that helps to connect and maintain the link between the communities of Wygate Park.”
Coun Gambba-Jones criticises the applicant for failing to back up its assertion that there will be no material impact - and asserts that there will be and that this will ‘result in a demonstrable harm’.
South Holland and the Deepings MP Sir John Hayes has also lodged an objection. In a letter, he wrote that the mast should be in an industrial site, adding: “These masts are completely out of character with the surrounding residential area and will be an incongruous structure blighting the landscape, causing loss of amenity to the neighbouring properties and beyond.”
Such masts apparently need to be located close to the people served - and Three insists it has looked at several alternatives in and around Wygate Park.