Alternative phone mast sites sought

A NEW telecommunications mast to be built on Eastbourne Road in Uckfield has been turned down by councillors.

Members of Wealden District Council's development control north sub-committee voted in favour of looking more carefully into the possibility of building on alternative sites, such as the land at Ridgewood Farm in Lewes Road, where there is already an O2 mast.

The council had received 75 letters of objection and two petitions from residents who opposed the mast Vodafone planned to build to provide 3G services to the area.

Cllr Jane Clark, speaking on behalf of ward member Cllr Carol Sweetland, said: "Many of us have come to accept mobile phones as part of our daily lives and Vodafone needs to improve its service to its customers.

However, at the same time, we still have a responsibility to protect public health and while the Stewart Report published in 2000 states that radio frequencies don't cause adverse health effects, it still recommends a "precautionary approach", which is what I urge councillors to adopt here."

The proposed 10m wireless timber telegraph pole and green steel cabinet were planned to be built on the south side of Eastbourne Road, opposite the office of Thorne Engineering and 6ft away from the Highlands Inn.

However, landlady Emma Flaherty, who spoke on behalf of the residents' association at the meeting, argued that alternative sites would be much more appropriate: "We're currently consulting with Vodafone's agent to show them the sites that we have come up with that are not in a residential area and not so close to a children's play area.

"We're not anti-phone masts as we appreciate that they need to be there but with the Government advising policies of mast sharing, surely that would be much more appropriate and would cut down on the technology clutter in the street."

Chairman of the committee Cllr Jonica Fox disagreed with the argument that said the mast would be unsightly saying: "I'm finding it very hard to see that a timber telegraph pole against the greenery in sequence with other telegraph poles is going to be considered visually harmful."

However, when the vote was cast the council agreed to reject the planning officer's proposal that prior approval was not required, agreeing that more thorough investigation of alternative sites, especially the Ridgewood Farm site, needed to be done.

Councillor Alan Whittaker, representative for Uckfield North, described choosing a location for the mast as 'a lesser of two evils'.

"The Ridgewood Farm site needs to be thoroughly investigated and if that does have to be made higher, then so be it," he said.

"At least it will be less impinging that other sites."