Tag: Planning

IVC football pitch gets the go-ahead
A second all-weather football facility will be available to the Histon & Impington community after South Cambs District Council’s Planning Committee unanimously gave approval for a ‘3g’ football pitch at Impington Village College. The permission includes associated lighting and facilities including a toilet block and a storage container.
Councillors conceded that an informal car park being used by visitors to IVC should have been returned to green space as a condition of the planning application for the Cavendish School, but they have now approved retrospective permission for a formal car park there.
Ryan Kelsall, Deputy CEO of Eastern Learning Alliance, which runs IVC, told HI HUB: “ELA are thrilled that the planning application for the 3G pitch has been approved.
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“We firmly believe that the new facility will support the education, health and wellbeing of young people and the community. Furthermore the formalisation of the car park will support traffic and parking management in and around the IVC site.”
More community use
The new pitch will be a further addition to the football facilities available in the village, which already include grass pitches at the Rec and an all-weather pitch constructed during the development of Brook Primary school.
Like the primary school, IVC will be required to make its pitch available to the public. A community use agreement will have to be prepared in consultation with Sport England and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority before the development work can begin.
This will have to cover the pitch, car parking and the toilet block, and include details of pricing policy, hours of use, access by non-educational establishment users, management responsibilities and a mechanism for review.
Cambridgeshire FA, who are supporting the development, have identified at least 38 local football teams – including from Histon Hornets and Milton Colts – that would benefit from the use of the pitch for both training and matches.
Continuing liaison
The IVC football project has proved controversial from the start, with an earlier planning application being withdrawn after the impact of the scheme on local residents was recognised.
As the new plans for sports facilities at IVC were developed – including netball courts and associated floodlights – a Community Liaison Group involving IVC, residents, Councillors and other stakeholders formed to address concerns. These include the management of traffic and parking on and around the site, and landscaping to screen the residential homes there from the expected increase in activity there.
The planning committee has recommended that liaison between IVC and residents continues, to ensure the impact of the traffic management plan is monitored. Ryan Kelsall has endorsed the importance of this group.
He said: “We are keen to build on recent work to ensure collaboration through the residents group led by the Parish, County and District Councillors. We are therefore pleased that The Planning Committee has formally recognised this group by designating it an ‘informative’ group for this project.”
Ros Hathorn, County Councillor for Histon & Impington, is also hopeful that the group has the potential to be effective at protecting residents’ interests. She told HI HUB: “The facilitation of a liaison group… has led to open discussion and has already delivered a commitment to a number of agreed improvements namely an application for double yellow lines and radical changes to youth football parking behaviours.
“There are future verbal commitments for more compromise and review of planning conditions in response to residents’ concerns.
“We have a planning system which is supportive of development and growth. It is almost impossible to stop development even when some people find it upsetting. By bringing people together in the same room we can find practical solutions, understand core concerns and find ways to make things better.
“We cannot stop development but through collaboration and a rigorous Neighbourhood Plan we can make sure development is as good as possible, particularly for site neighbours.”
READ ALSO: Council recommends approval of IVC sports plans but neighbours fear problems ahead and Council to debate plans for IVC sports facilities and Renewed IVC sports applications spark neighbours’ fury and 3g pitch application withdrawn following new objections and Residents concerns drive objections to 3g pitch proposals and Plans progress for artificial grass pitch at IVC and 3g pitch “provides more public benefit than harm” say planners
10/04/2025
3g pitch “provides more public benefit than harm” say planners
Planning officers are recommending that Councillors give the go-ahead for a full-size artificial grass football pitch and a permanent parking area on Impington Village College (IVC) land.
They report “significant third-party support for the provision of the proposed 3G pitch” and note “significant objection on matters such as traffic, parking pressure, visual amenity and noise”. But there were no objections from any statutory consultees, and ultimately the planners conclude that the development “…when weighed in the planning balance provides more public benefit than harm.”
Facilities
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The South Cambs Planning Committee, due to meet on 9 April, will be asked to approve the creation of the 3G pitch with perimeter fencing, floodlights, hardstanding areas, a storage container, an embankment, an access footpath and a toilet block.
They will also be asked to give retrospective approval for a permanent car park on an area that was previously green space but has been used as an informal car park since the Cavendish School was built.
Traffic mitigation
Local residents have consistently put forward objections to the 3g pitch facility, citing the impact additional traffic to the site would have – especially in light of the recent approval for a major netball facility there.
But planning officers believe that, by creating an area within the car park for taxis to queue off New Road and introducing a Parking Management Plan – “factoring in the recently approved netball application” – will improve current traffic problems on New Road and also offset the impact of additional traffic to the new facilities.
They recommend that the situation is kept under review, monitored by the Local Planning Authority and Highway Authority, and that adjustments are made if the traffic problems persist.
Open all hours
Although IVC has asked for permission to operate floodlights from 8am until 10pm on weekdays and until 6pm at weekends, officers are recommending approval of the new application for longer, until 7pm on Saturdays and 8pm on Sundays and public holidays. They justify this as balancing “illuminating the sports facility for maximum use and benefit to sport with the interest of amenity and sustainability”.
They propose the condition that automatic floodlight controls are installed. These would ensure all artificial lighting turns off automatically at the permitted curfew hours, during daylight hours and when the pitch is not in use.
Other conditions
As well as traffic management and limits to opening hours, planners are asking for details of features including the design of the storage container and toilet block, and lighting of the access path, to be approved as a condition of approving the whole scheme.
They also say details of hard and soft landscape works should be submitted to the planning authority and approved in writing. Then if, in the first five years, any trees and shrubs are removed, uprooted, destroyed, die or become damaged or diseased, replacement trees and shrubs of the same size and species as originally planted would have to replace them.
READ ALSO: Council recommends approval of IVC sports plans but neighbours fear problems ahead and Council to debate plans for IVC sports facilities and Renewed IVC sports applications spark neighbours’ fury and 3g pitch application withdrawn following new objections and Residents concerns drive objections to 3g pitch proposals and Plans progress for artificial grass pitch at IVC
Residents wishing to attend the South Cambridge Planning Committee where the 3g pitch proposal is on the agenda can do so in person or online. See the agenda here . Anyone wishing to speak at the meeting can find further details here .
03/04/2025
Rose and Crown upgrade on hold after planning refusal
Milton Brewery has reacted angrily to South Cambs District Council (SCDC) turning down their planning application for creating more space and improved facilities at the Rose & Crown.
Pub group Individual Pubs Ltd, established to run pubs serving Milton Brewery beers, had requested Listed Building Consent to replace some outbuildings with a new single storey side and rear extension. Their plans also proposed other related external works, including an air source heat pump.
‘Unsympathetic addition’
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Consultees included Histon & Impington Parish Council, who expressed their support for the work, subject to Highways Authority concerns being resolved and an acoustic fence installed to protect neighbouring properties.
But objections to the plans were raised by the SCDC Conservation Officer, who said the “position and form, and to some extent size”, of the proposed extension “fails to be sympathetic to the listed buildings”. They also commented on the proposed “boundary placement” of the building, saying it is “harmful to the character and setting of the listed building at No.4 Glebe Way” – also a Grade II listed building.
In refusing the application, planners endorsed the Officer’s view, saying that the proposed extension is an “unsympathetic addition” to the building and that the plans breach a section of the legislation covering listed buildings and conservation areas, as well as the National Planning Policy Framework and the South Cambridgeshire Local Plan.
Challenges and ambitions
The Rose & Crown had sat empty for some considerable time under previous owners, Everards, before Milton Brewery announced plans to take over the pub in September 2024.
Talking to HI HUB last autumn, brewer Richard Naisby was mindful of the pub being a Grade II listed building when he revealed some of the challenges they faced. “Radical change is not just unlikely but forbidden”, he said.
Sharing his frustrations at refusal of the plans, he told HI HUB: “The decision is a shocker. The local plan mentions the Rose & Crown by name as something to be supported and, though a listed building, [SCDC’s] own decision refers to ‘less than substantial harm’ to the heritage asset. What they seek to ‘conserve’ is the motley collection of outbuildings which is frankly an eyesore.

“We reached out to the three local councillors to ask them to call in the decision – without effect. All of the public comments were supportive of our plans including the Campaign for Pubs and Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA). We put a lot of work into the application and the arbitrary way it has been rejected is infuriating.

“We are considering our options – including appeal to the Planning Inspectorate – but it all adds vastly to time and expense and represents a genuine risk to the future of the pub. We’ve posted the decision notice in the pub so people can judge for themselves – but it is a shoddy piece of work.”
Support and advice
Commenting on the situation, recently elected District Councillor for Histon & Impington James Rixon, shared: “All three District Councillors have endeavoured to provide supportive advice on and explanation of the planning process to the applicant Mr Naisby.
“Collectively we recognise the importance of the Rose and Crown to Histon & Impington and the challenges faced in updating it to be a thriving business and community asset.
“The feedback from officers was clear in that, whilst they suggest a new extension to the property could be supported, the submitted design was not acceptable from a heritage perspective, due to its impact and close proximity to the listed property.”
Full details of the application, reference 24/04242/LBC, can be seen on the Greater Cambridge Shared Planning website.
READ ALSO: milton-brewery-prepares-to-revive-histons-rose-and-crown and rose-and-crown-opens-for-business
27/02/2025
Church could relocate to Histon
A Cambridge church could be moving to Histon’s Vision Park, if a change of use planning application is approved. South Cambridgeshire planners are currently considering the proposals to convert three office units at 1-3 Trust Court into a “place of worship”.
The City of David Church – which is described as a “vibrant, multicultural pentecostal church” – needs to relocate because its current home at The Paddocks is set to become a research and development facility.
Relocation
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A planning statement supporting the application explains: “The Redeemed Christian Church of God (otherwise known as RCCG) City of David Parish in Cambridge is a vibrant, multicultural church which is currently based at The Paddocks employment area on Cherry Hinton Road.
“Due to plans to redevelop The Paddocks into a research and development facility the Church has been given notice to vacate the building by March 2025 hence the need for new accommodation.
“Units 1, 2, 3 Trust Court are ideal for the Church with ancillary offices as well as serviced offices to rent out.”
Plans
Drawings for the proposals show the ground floor offices will be knocked through to create a main hall, two reception areas and WCs. A family friendly area with a creche, sensory room and nursing room are included in the first floor plans, as well as a gallery, coffee area and office space. More offices are proposed for the building’s second floor.
Proposed opening hours for Sundays are 9am-2pm, with Worship Service between 11am-1:30pm. The food bank is suggested for Tuesday, Thursday and Friday mornings. Evening events are planned Tuesdays-Thursdays. The planning document explains a congregation of 150 is expected on a Sunday and points out the “busiest time is when surrounding offices are closed for the weekend”.
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The Church employs 11 staff and has 16 part time volunteers; seven staff with four cars are said to be “associated with the church office element during the working week”. The site has 26 car parking places, and is accessible by foot, bicycle and public transport. Eighteen new cycle parking spaces are also being proposed with the application.
The planning statement said: “The Church already actively implements a range of travel measures designed to reduce dependence on the private motor car e.g. lift sharing and provision of a community bus. In addition, some of the congregation are local and will walk or cycle to church.”
The majority of the Parish Council’s Planning and Development Committee voted in favour of approving the application on 18 February, with six votes for approval and one vote against. The Local Highways Authority commented there should be “no significant adverse effect” on the surrounding area.
Fundraising
Towards the end of last November, the Church launched a fundraising campaign to raise £200,000 towards its new home. The “New Church Home” page on its website explains the support would go towards expanding the food bank services, enhance IT and training courses and help for other community initiatives.
The Church’s recent change of use application was validated by South Cambridgeshire District Council on 3 February, 2025. The reference number on the planning portal is 25/00305/FUL.
The City of David Church was approached for comment. Eddisons is the applicant’s agent.
READ MORE: Footpath construction to go ahead after a 14-year lead-in
27/02/2025
Next steps for Red House development plans
Developers aiming to convert the Red House on Station Road to residential accommodation have re-started the process of applying for planning permission.
The site was most recently home to the International Whaling Commission and used for commercial purposes. Permission is needed for the developers, Hawkswren Ltd, to use it for 11 flats.
An earlier application was turned down by officers at Greater Cambridge Shared Planning, partly due to a lack of evidence that all of the buildings on the site were eligible to be included in the ‘change of use’ application submitted.
This latest attempt to gain permission would see one 2-bed property and ten 1-bed units created, with the layout of the site reflecting the plans put forward in the previous application.
The Red House building itself would be turned into four flats. The warehouse behind and a linking building between the two would be converted to create the rest of the homes, and 11 car parking spaces would be provided.
Another reason that planners refused the earlier planning application was the absence of a transport report without which “it isn’t possible to assess whether the new homes would have a negative impact on the road”, planners said. The latest documents include a transport appraisal.
Full details of the application are on the Greater Cambridge Shared Planning website, Ref: 25/00514/PRIOR. The scheduled date for determining the outcome is Tuesday 8 April.
READ ALSO: Developers propose 11 flats for Red House site and Development plans for notable village properties and Red House plans face further set-back
20/02/2025
Lifeline for IVC trees
The line of mature trees that was due to be cut down under plans to improve the netball courts at Impington Village College (IVC) could now be saved.
The trees form a 60m hedge that creates a natural screen between the courts and neighbouring residential properties.
Fence approved
Despite objections from neighbours, including those living on Park Drive, immediately in front of the courts, the planning application for upgrading the facilities included replacing the trees with an acoustic fence.
This was approved by the planning authority when they gave permission for the development in December 2024. They said: “the use of the courts shall not commence until the acoustic fence has been installed in accordance with the approved details. It shall be retained as such thereafter.”
But the Decision Notice also allows for variation of the permission if there is local agreement.
Change of heart
At a meeting with residents and other stakeholder last week, Ryan Kelsall, Deputy CEO of Eastern Learning Alliance (ELA), the academy trust that runs IVC, confirmed that they had listened to residents’ objections and that the trust’s preferred option was now to retain the trees.
He told HI HUB: “We can’t confirm that we can keep the trees until we get confirmation from Planning that this is supported…
“The Parish Council are following up with the Planning Department to seek confirmation/clarification; once we have this we can confirm either way.”
Courts to open
The IVC Liaison Group will now be considering whether the trees alone or a combination of both the trees and a fence would mitigate the expected levels of noise and light pollution.
Whatever the outcome, ELA is not in a position to put floodlights in place yet, as they are prioritizing progress on creating an all-weather 3G football pitch elsewhere on the IVC site.
But the resurfacing of courts has now been completed, with top dressing and lines due to be added in March. IVC students will be able to use the courts shortly, and when all the work has been completed, the public and clubs will be able to use them on a pay-and-play basis during daylight hours.
READ ALSO: Decision time for IVC netball development | HI HUB
30/01/2025
Rental flats at the heart of plans for School Hill
Plans for a development of 15 new residential flats in the heart of the village would see two further storeys built above the commercial units on School Hill.
School Hill today (Image: np architects / Camel Projects)
The redevelopment of the School Hill site is being led by property investment company Camel Projects. Phase 1 of their work culminated in 2021 with the completion of business premises that are now home to Histon Library, the Indian Ocean, Cambridge Building Society, Histon Opticians and Stir.
New approach
The residential scheme now being put forward would include 12 one-bedroom flats suitable for double occupancy, plus three two-bedroom properties, and all would have level access to a lift, with doorways suitable for wheelchair access.
In addition, a new-build element of the scheme would serve as the residents’ communal entrance building. Created at the back of the Tesco store, it would be linked to the rest of the building at the first and second floor levels, creating two offices/commercial spaces totalling almost 100m². The ground floor level below would be used for bin storage and secure cycle racks.
The plans are being put forward after initial designs for the site – which were given planning permission in 2019 – were changed. The successful application included nine residential units above the supermarket, which was occupied by Tesco Express at the time, but their lease was due to expire. Tesco’s subsequent decision to renew their lease for a further 15 years meant those plans didn’t go ahead, and under the new scheme no changes will be made to that building.
Affordable
Camel Projects are proposing that all 15 properties in their new scheme are based on the Build to Rent concept. This would mean a minimum of 20% of the homes would be provided as Affordable Private Rent at a 20% market discount, but the developers are exploring the possibility of providing all of the flats at this rate.
The fall-back arrangement, they say, would be to provide the properties for sale, in which case, under the South Cambridgeshire Local Plan, 40% of these would have to be sold as ‘affordable housing’.
Visual appearance
The developers aim to deliver “a high-quality design, that will be worthy of its status as a focal point for this part of the village”, but the introduction of a two-storey extension on the site is controversial. The site is located within the Histon Conservation Area and the Histon & Impington Village Design Guide states that “development should be no taller than two storeys when fronting onto the High Street”, though it also says “3 storey development may be acceptable set back from the road frontage”.
Cross section of proposed development. Image: Camel Projects / np architects
The Histon & Impington Neighbourhood Plan – drawn up on the back of extensive community consultation – is sympathetic to new residential uses above ground floor level, including an upper floor on School Hill, but the possibility of a third floor there is not covered in the Plan.
The developers have anticipated concerns about the height of the development, pointing out that it is no higher than the roof line of Windmill Grange behind. Also, their design is for the new upper floors to be set back from the retail units below, stepping up to 3 storeys and, in doing so, creating a shared terrace for residents on the first floor and “balconies which add interest to the otherwise plain façade.” A row of front facing gables is included, aiming to better suit the village context than a flat roof.
Parking bays would be marked out beside and behind Tesco Express. Photo: Brian Whitehead
Parking
Another issue likely to prove controversial is parking, though Camel Projects’ Andrew Slaymaker told HI HUB: “We are very confident the parking arrangement on the application are policy compliant and a huge improvement to the current situation.”
The Transport Statement submitted with the new planning application points out that although the community uses the Tesco parking spaces for purposes other than shopping at the supermarket, in fact the land is privately held and not a public car park.
It says the current car park is capable of accommodating 47 cars, but the spaces are not formally marked and are not to standard dimensions, and Andrew told HI HUB: “Even without the current development proposals we would be re-organising the car park to facilitate efficient space utilisation and orderly parking.”
The latest proposals would see 20 spaces created at the back of the site and a further 13 along the side access road beside Tesco. Whilst this total is 3 more than permitted under the 2019 planning permission, 15 spaces – one for each flat – would be prioritised for residents, compared with just 6 under the previous plans. Each resident would be given a single permit to use the car park but no specific spaces would be allocated to any particular retail or residential unit, or the library.
The length of time a retail customer, café or library user could use the car park for free would be limited to 45 minutes between 6:30am and 6pm – just half of the 90 minutes permitted under the planning permission currently in force. After that a charge of £1 per hour would be applied, and only residents with permits or others with special permission would be allowed to park overnight. No provision is made for staff parking at the commercial units on the site, though “travel planning advice will be available” to them.
Image: Camel Projects / SLR Consulting
The Transport Statement also refers to on-street and public car parking available nearby. It suggests that this is not currently at full capacity and can accommodate many more vehicles. A survey commissioned by the developer reports a total of 99 public parking spaces being available within a 3-minute walk of the site, with spaces for up to 9 cars in the lay-by along the site frontage on School Hill offering free short-term parking of up to 30 minutes, and a further 50 spaces at the public car park off the High Street, owned by the Parish Council. It found the maximum current demand for parking in the area to be 65 cars.
Consultation
The plans for completing the School Hill development have been taking shape for some while. In 2022 Camel Projects had pre-application discussions with the planning authority about a proposal for 18 residential units on the site, after which revisions were made. The new proposals were re-presented to the Greater Cambridge Design Review Panel in February 2023, and in July 2023 to members of the Histon & Impington Parish Council planning committee. They welcomed the improvements that the first stage of the development has made to School Hill and the plans for affordable housing, but they also raised questions about several issues, including the percentage of affordable homes and car parking.
The statutory public consultation on the plans is due to close on 2 January 2024 but the Parish Council is applying for an extension to this date so that the planning committee can communicate with the community as a whole and hear the concerns they have.
Full details of the scheme including the planning application, transport statement and drawings, can be found on the Greater Cambridge Shared Planning website.
14/12/2023
Proposed New Science Park Talk
Histon and Impington Village Society is holding a talk on Tuesday 29th November from 7.30pm at Histon Methodist Church.
The proposed Trinity College Science Park is one of the most significant planning developments in Histon and Impington for decades. The site is next to the Impington Village College, bounded by the Busway. Trinity College, which owns the Science Park, has taken an option on 400 acres of greenbelt farmland owned by the Chivers Farms Ltd and has purchased a plot of land that would provide vehicle access onto Butt Lane.
The session will involve a full presentation and plenty of time for a Q and A. We welcome our members and residents to come along to find out more directly from the team behind it.
Please note booking required via this link https://www.eventbrite.com/e/proposed-plans-for-a-new-science-park-in-impington-tickets-463655324557 . Alternatively call 07956 720023 or email handivsoc@gmail.com.
10/11/2022
Developers call a halt on retirement village plans
Property developer McCarthy & Stone has withdrawn its planning application for 105 new retirement homes on the land known locally as Barrel Field. The local planning authority has therefore stopped all work on processing the application and no decision will be made.
This may not, however, signal the end of the developer’s interest in the jam factory land at the end of Home Close, currently owned by the company Hain Daniels. Withdrawing a planning application is a ploy that some developers use to save money, as it means they can submit again without paying a second time. The planners have pointed out: “The applicant may choose to re-submit this or an amended application to us at a future date.”
Objections
The many objections raised during the consultation on the plans earlier this year made it clear to the developer that there is huge local opposition to the application, which was likely to have failed. The case officer in the planning department has now posted correspondence with draft reasons for refusing the application. In total, nine major issues were raised.
READ ALSO: Access issues provoke angry reaction to development plans – Objections build around proposed retirement development – Authorities wade in on planning application for Histon retirement village
The “overly large and incongruous scale, massing, and proportions” of the buildings in the plan were a primary consideration. This and the “sparsely landscaped public realm dominated by car parking” would make the development “out of character with existing residential development surrounding the site”, they said. The removal of mature boundary trees and little landscape mitigation was also cited as “harming the character and local significance of the designated Local Green Space Histon and Impington Community Orchard”.
Other reasons given for rejecting the plans would have been:
- substandard accommodation, including light levels, in the new properties
- an “overbearing and overlooking impact” to properties on Somerset Road
- insufficient vehicle access to the site, or car and cycle parking facilities
- failing to provide a safe crossing at the site entrance and integrate into the existing cycling and pedestrian network
- encouraging pedestrian crossings at a high-speed part of the busway
- failing to provide an up-to-date assessment of the impact on the ecology and protected species
- no calculations of net gain to biodiversity
- failing to demonstrate that occupiers wouldn’t suffer from odour and noise impacts from the factory
- insufficient information to prove that the site could be adequately drained.
All residents who participated in the consultation on the plans will be notified if McCarthy & Stone decide to re-submit their initial application or an amended one at a future date.
16/09/2021
Campaign gathers pace to reject “eyesore” phone mast in Impington
Residents and local organisations are battling to prevent a 15m 5G Monopole and 6m run of cabinets up to 2m high being installed in a residential area on New Road, Impington.
52 public comments have so far been submitted to Greater Cambridge Planning raising concerns about a wide range of issues, but primarily its position alongside a footpath used daily by hundreds of students. One objector commented: “The location is in the middle of a busy pedestrian walk way, next to a bus stop where space is at a premium, at the head of a T junction, particularly hectic before and after school where narrowing the size of the walk way… only increases the risk of accidents.”
Objections
Another major objection is to the impact on the streetscape. Branded “an eyesore” by one local resident, the mast – also known as a ‘Monopole’ – would dwarf both residential properties and other features, including the fragile listed wall that encloses Impington Village College (IVC) land.
A number of people commented on the impact on the trees in the area, including the South Cambs District Council Trees Officer, who is “disappointed” with the planning application. She said: “The issues surrounding the above and below ground parts of trees, which have statutory protection, have not been addressed” and commented that no information had been provided about the impact on future tree pruning and management, or how the trees would be physically protected during the mast’s installation.
Some concerns have been raised about the physical and mental health impacts of 5G monopoles and the long-term effects of living or working near them – especially for the children at IVC and the new Cavendish School for autistic children, due to open soon. Similarly, the proximity to the Spire Lea hospital has prompted questions about how the installation could disrupt scanners and other hospital equipment.
Minor change
The planning applicant is CK Hutchison Networks (UK) Ltd, which runs the mobile network ‘3 UK’. The company first submitted a planning application for an 18m Monopole in May but was rejected in July on many of the grounds raised by the community, including those by IVC, Spire, Histon & Impington Parish Council and District Councillor Steve Hunt.
Mast and cabinets would sit beside a fragile listed wall and a narrow pavement in a residential neighbourhood
In the company’s new application, the height of the pole is reduced to 15m but no other significant changes have been introduced. The company claims that its equipment “is considered unlikely to have any material impact on the local area but significant connectivity improvements”, and says this should be “a material consideration in the judgment of the site’s suitability.” It rejects comments about the inappropriate visual impact of the mast, saying the proposed location “benefits from screening provided by tall, mature trees and existing street furniture” which will help it “blend into the surrounding area, preventing it from appearing incongruous”.
The mast’s height was among several reason’s for planners rejecting the initial proposal and it was not the height alone that troubled residents. Steve Hunt tweeted: “Disappointing to see an (almost) repeat application with no apparent attempt to engage with the Parish Council/Community to find a more acceptable location. My response… is therefore also almost an exact repeat of the last one!”
The extent to which local residents could gain better mobile connectivity with the mast has been disputed by one resident. They claim that “5G won’t (initially at least?) reach indoors. Its much higher radio frequency (than 3G and 4G) has much lower range (c500 metres) and penetration – so won’t go through bricks and glass. It is designed to serve ‘open public spaces, railway concourses, sports stadia’ and the like.”
Another resident commented on the application being from a single network, and whether lowering its height could potentially reduce its coverage. “Why can’t this be on a shared aerial with other carriers? And, given the reduction in coverage coming from the drop to 15m, how many more will be needed.”
Alternatives?
Among those objecting to the new application are the Parish Council, which shares residents’ concerns and has objected to the revised application on the grounds that it fails to meet National Planning Policy.
Parish Council members have offered to work with developers to help find an appropriate location, and they acknowledge residents’ wish for any installations to be outside residential areas. Other sites proposed by objectors include the Guided Busway, around the Chivers factory, where there is already industrial development, and the business area Vision Park, which is also home to taller buildings.
One stumbling block to other locations could be the cost: a roadside installation would be cheaper for the network providers than private land, where they would have to pay the landowners to use their sites.
The closing date for objections and comments is now 24 September and these can be submitted online here. The planning application reference is 21/03731/PRI16A
09/09/2021