Plans for 20 metre phone mast in leafy Sheffield suburb scrapped after dozens of complaints from residents

EE wanted to replace a 14.5m mast with a 20m high monopole with 12 antenna and equipment cabinets in front of Ecclesall Medical Centre at the junction of Woodholm Road and Millhouses Lane.

But Sheffield Council planning officers refused the plans, saying it would be ‘unacceptably prominent and visually obtrusive’.

The application also sparked 12 written objections and a petiton with 42 signatures from the public.

One Woodholm Road resident said: “This pole would tower above and stand out in a hideous way if located at the road junction.

“It will jar against the backdrop of existing houses, trees and other sympathetic features as it soars so high above the skyline.

“The metal cabinets will be a feature in themselves different to the landscape around them and are likely to cause litter and graffiti.”

Another Woodholm Road resident said: “The plans represent a real eyesore which would dominate the area and dwarf the local residential housing.

“The fact that it does not integrate well is painfully obvious. Siting metal cabinets around the base of the mast, two metres in height, is a further eye sore.

“This cluster of ugly boxes would dramatically change the nature and appearance of the current grass verge and curbside from a welcome green space to an industrial storage area and be a magnet for litter and graffiti.”

EE argued the pole would fit in with existing street lamps and be screened by mature trees but ultimately, planning officers had the final say.

In their decision notice they said: "The local planning authority considers that the proposed telecommunication mast and associated equipment would (due to the design, scale and massing) form an unacceptably prominent and visually obtrusive feature in the streetscene which, would be contrary to paragraph 113 of the National Planning Policy Framework and, also contrary to policy BE14 of the Sheffield Unitary Development Plan and policy CS74 of the Sheffield Core Strategy."