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21
Aug
Mobile company appeals Harrogate 5G tower plan refusal
A developer has appealed a council decision to refuse a 30-metre high 5G tower on a Harrogate sports pitch.
Mobile network operator EE wants to build on land at Pannal Ash Junior Football Club because its existing rooftop telecommunications site for the area is at Harrogate College, which is due to undergo a £22 million redevelopment.
It applied to to North Yorkshire Council to erect a lattice tower surrounded by a 2.1-metre-high palisade fence on land at Almsford Close.
The proposed tower would provide 3G, 4G and 5G usage, as well as standard voice call services.
However, the project received 96 objections from residents and Harrogate Town Council.
The location of the planned tower compared with its previous facility.
In July, North Yorkshire Council refused the plan on the grounds that the tower would be "overbearing", “cause an unacceptable level of harm to the character of the local area” and “appear visually dominant and intrusive”.
Now, Telent Technology Services Limited, which submitted the application on behalf of EE, has taken the decision to the government’s Planning Inspectorate, which deals with planning disputes.
In a statement of case, the developer said the plan would not result in "any significant detrimental or demonstrable impact to the visual amenity” and that the proposed location is “acceptable”.
It added that if any harm is identified with the plan, it is “outweighed by the benefits associated with the proposal”.
It said:
The backdrop to communications is changing and evolving dramatically, with the arrival of 4G and now, the move to 5G. Social networks and the increased computing power in handsets and other portable electronic devices have driven demand for data.
The design proposed is the lowest impact designs of mast available to the appellant being at the absolute minimum at 30 metres. Bearing in mind that the function of antennas requires a clear path to their target area the height is the absolute minimum required to provide coverage to the area.
A government planning inspector will make a decision on the appeal at a later date.
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