New phone mast will overtop flats

A new telecoms pole taller than a four-storey building is to be put up in a Herefordshire town.

CK Hutchison Networks, which operates the Three mobile network in the UK, has been told it can go ahead with its plan to put up a 15-metre “phase 9 slimline monopole” and base cabinet on the verge of Orchard Lane, Ledbury.

This will be nearly three times the height of existing 5.7m-tall street lights in the area, and above the average 12m height of nearby trees, according to the company’s application.

“The height of the pole has been kept down to the absolute minimum capable of providing the required essential new 5G coverage,” it said.

The spot, opposite the four-storey Leadon Bank retirement housing flats and apparently also taller than them, had been identified following pre-application discussion with Herefordshire Council, it added.

Planning officer Matthew Neilson concluded that the proposed mast “would not be unacceptably prominent in the context of the well-established and mixed character of the area”, and that any harm from its “is outweighed by the benefits of enhanced 5G network coverage”.

Nearby resident Jenifer Knowles objected to the fact that the mast “will be just a few feet from my flat window and radiating directly into it”.

“Please give consideration to likely radiation levels given the close proximity,” she wrote.

However, the pole’s design complies with international regulations on public exposure to radio waves, according to the network company’s application.