EE warns temporary mast may be needed to maintain mobile phone services in Bishop’s Stortford
A mobile phone operator has warned that a temporary mast may be needed to maintain services in Bishop’s Stortford.
EE is making a renewed attempt to build a 30m (98ft) high tower on land east of London Road and south of Pig Lane to serve customers in the Hockerill area.
It has asked East Herts Council (EHC) to approve the telecommunications application, despite the authority’s refusal of an almost identical plan in April 2023.
That decision was upheld by an inspector at appeal in March. The independent scrutineer backed the district council’s concerns about the siting and appearance of the installation and its impact on the character of the area and road safety, and dismissed EE’s appeal.
The inspector noted that EHC had already granted an application to erect the mast at the nearby Haslemere Industrial Estate off Pig Lane.
EE says it has abandoned that plan because of “legal impracticalities together with technical delivery and land right issues” and will allow the five-year permission to lapse.
The inspector said: “There is no evidence before me to show that the land ownership constraints would be insurmountable in this timeframe. Consequently, were I to allow this appeal, both could be implemented.
“Given the proximity of the sites, there would be occasions where both masts would be visible. Two substantial masts with the associated equipment in such close proximity would create adverse visual clutter.
“There is no mechanism before me to prevent the first prior approval from being implemented.”
A third application, to build the tower on land west of Hallingbury Road, was refused by the council in March and is the subject of an outstanding appeal.
EE says if it wins that appeal, it will ditch the latest London Road proposal. All three applications are an attempt to replace a mast at The Bishop’s Stortford High School in London Road.
It must be decommissioned so that the redundant site can be redeveloped with new homes following the secondary’s move to a new home at St James’ Park this month.
In the latest application, EE’s agent argues: “Given the requirement for the decommissioning of the original mast at Bishop’s Stortford High School and the significant timescales involved in attempting to obtain permission for a permanent replacement mast that will continue to provide coverage to the surrounding areas, if a permanent solution cannot be found in a timely manner, then there will be a requirement for a temporary mast to be deployed on a grass verge off London Road to act as a stop-gap to ensure uninterrupted service for residents, visitors and businesses that are currently serviced by the existing mast.
“This will only be deployed should planning permission not be obtained for a permanent structure prior to the decommissioning of the existing mast.”
The proposed new mast will not only service voice calls but will include provision for 2G/4G and 5G data use and provide network services to the “blue light” emergency services in the area.
Across the country, according to EE, 94% of adults own or use a mobile phone, with 52.4 million 4G subscriptions.
As of 2017, 76% of adults had a smartphone and 18% of adults lived in a mobile phone-only home.
Increasing coverage and take-up of higher speed 4G services is driving data use, with an average of 1.9GB consumed per subscriber.
EE has confirmed that the mast and apparatus will be coloured fir green after the appeal inspector highlighted a discrepancy in the earlier application which indicated it could also be grey.
