Residents celebrate victory in fight against 20m mobile phone mast on Sheffield estate

Families living on the Horizon estate in Darnall mobilised to protest against the scheme which had been put forward to site a 20m tall 5G Vodafone mast on a grassy area near their homes.

They said it should be placed in a nearby industrial estate instead, which already had a mobile phone mast just 30m away.

But now Sheffield Council planning officials have thrown the plans out, leaving those who fought against the scheme at the corner of Clement Street and Allende Way believing it to be now 'dead in the water'.

In a document confirming the plan had been rejected, the council stated: “The local planning authority considers that the proposed mast, owing to its scale, siting and appearance, will form an obtrusive feature in the street scene that will be out of keeping in the locality and harmful to the visual amenity of the area.”

Resident Anto Heley, who had been among those fighting the plans, said they did not expect an appeal from the mobile phone company, as they had already started speaking to the consultants who had been working on the project about alternative sites, which they hope will be in the nearby industrial estate.

He said: “We feel as though everything is now going to work out for the best. From what we have heard from the planners and the consultants, plans to put it where they had originally proposed are dead in the water.

“We want to thank The Star for its help raising awareness of our campaign.”

He said they would be happy to work with officials to find a more suitable location.

A spokesman for Vodafone's infrastructure partner, Cornerstone, had said Vodafone customers expect to use their devices wherever they live, work and travel, which is why Cornerstone had proposed the new site for Darnall, and the mast would provide customers in the area with stronger and more reliable voice coverage and fast mobile data speeds.

Local journalism holds the powerful to account and gives people a voice. Please take out a digital subscription or buy a paper.

Thank you. Nancy Fielder, editor