‘Excessive’ 5G mast could be refused in ‘well-kept’ Mansfield neighbourhood

The proposal, submitted by applicant CK Hutchison for the corner of Westfield Lane and Chester Street, is set to be debated by members of Mansfield Council’s planning committee this week.

The applicant wants to build the communications mast as well as three equipment cabinets in a bid to boost internet signal across parts of the town.

However, council planners, in a report to committee members, are recommending refusing the scheme.

It follows a petition, local objections and concerns from the local councillor urging the council to throw out the proposals.

Coun Stuart Richardson, member for Penniment ward where the plans would be based, said: “The site is a well-kept, pleasantly grassed area. This mast and cabinets would be a dominant feature, totally out of character and have a detrimental effect on the visual amenity of the area.”

Papers reveal 76 objections have been raised by local residents, alongside a petition with more than 150 signatures, with concerns including a potential health impact on schools, visual impact, construction and maintenance traffic, the structure being a “distraction to road users” and the “impact of 5G on household appliances”.

However, the applicant said 5G is “just as safe as 4G and 3G”.

It said: “Some people have expressed concern a large number of 5G cells may increase a person’s exposure to radio waves.

“However, that is not how cellular mobile networks work. Every time a new mast or small cell is added, the distance the signal has to travel reduces.

“Small 5G base stations will reduce radio wave exposure to individual smartphone users and improve local G5 capacity for all manner of useful bandwidth-hungry applications.

“A good 5G fibre base local broadband infrastructure will be important to communities over the coming decades.”

However, the authority’s planning department has recommended refusing the plans, despite admitting they do offer “economic and social benefits”.

Its report said: “The 15m high monopole would materially harm the visual amenity of the locality by virtue of its excessive height, inappropriate siting and unsympathetic design.

“It would form an overly dominant feature in the street scene that would result in harm to the character and appearance of the area.”