5G phone mast approved in Sheffield neighbourhood due to council 'oversight'

A Sheffield member of parliament has written to government after a 5G phone mast was approved by a council 'oversight'.
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Olivia Blake, MP for Sheffield Hallam, said she was 'disappointed' to see a phone mast on Rustlings Road approved by deemed consent after Sheffield Council failed to meet the deadline to refuse it.

She said she has now contacted the applicant - Cornerstone & Vodafone Ltd - and Robert Jenrick, secretary of state, to raise the issue.

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In a series of tweets, she said: "I have also been in touch with the applicant to raise concerns about the inappropriate nature of this mast on Rustlings Road, and will work to ensure it does not go ahead in this location and an alternative site is found.

Olivia BlakeOlivia Blake
Olivia Blake

"Many councils have completely suspended planning and I am worried about the wider implications this legislation may have during this pandemic."

Sheffield Council has apologised what it called an 'oversight'.

It received three applications from Cornerstone & Vodafone Ltd for mobile phone masts at Greenhill Parkway, Archer Road and Rustlings Road around the same time.

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From the date of the applications reaching it, the council had 56 days to decide whether to approve or refuse these but after not processing them quickly enough it lost that power and all three were automatically given a green light.

The authority said it planned to approve two of those but that the Rustlings Road mast would have been rejected.

Councillor Shaffaq Mohammed, leader of the Liberal Democrats and representative for Ecclesall ward, said this “added insult to injury” for those living on Rustlings Road where in 2016 residents were arrested for protesting a tree felling at 5am.

He also said his party’s councillors felt “misled” by the council after they were given reassurance that planning decisions were being kept on top of during the coronavirus crisis.

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He said: “It’s ridiculous. I just think it’s a real cock-up, I feel sorry for the people on Rustlings Road – they have ended up with this big phone mast that even the local authority felt was inappropriate and would have turned down.”

Coun Mohammed added: “There are a lot of conspiracy theories about 5G and this is clearly going to add to that.”

The tree felling is part of a £2.2 billion highways improvement contract between the council and Amey, who carry out the work.

They state trees are only cut down if they are dead, dying, diseased or dangerous.

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Michelle Bains, who lives on the road, said: “I don’t think it’s a reasonable excuse, it’s a beauty spot to many local people to come and enjoy.

“The council are just really screwing up at the moment.

“At the entrance of Rustlings Road is where they came and chopped down the finest and grandest tree in that spot.

“And now they are putting a great big telephone mast in its place, what we’d like to see is another tree put there.

“The council need to be very careful to protect the environment. These are beautiful Victorian houses overlooking a beautiful, old park.”

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There were three public comments on the application for the mast at Rustlings Road.

One, who said they recently moved to the street for the “unspoilt view of the park”, wrote: “The mast is completely out of character for the area given that this is a tree lined road adjacent to one of the most popular parks in the city.

“It will materially detract from the view over the park and from the view out of the park. The fact that the mast will be 20m tall will make the intrusion all the more significant and intrusive.”

Councillor Bob Johnson, cabinet member for transport and sustainability, said: “The council apologises for this mistake but hope people will understand we are operating in extraordinary circumstances which have led to these oversights occurring.

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“We understand residents’ depth of feeling about the location of these masts and we are sorry that they were not properly determined within the time limit.

“In relation to Rustlings Road, we are in contact with the company to express our view that this is an inappropriate site for this mast and are actively working with them to discuss alternatives.

“We are also writing to all residents in the three areas to explain the situation.”

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