Eastbourne residents 'hugely relieved’ over 5G mast plans being refused

Plans were submitted to Eastbourne Borough Council for a 16m 5G mast to go up in Dukes Drive.

More than 200 residents and Bede’s Prep School objected to the mast.

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The decision letter has now been released from Eastbourne Borough Council revealing the proposal has been refused for two reasons:

The base area of the proposed mast exceeds 1.5 square metres and is therefore ‘outside of the scope of the legislation and requires the express grant of planning permission’.

It also says the height and design of the mast would be ‘intrusive and incongruous’ in the street.

The letter says: “The application fails to provide adequate justification that would outweigh the identified harm or that suitable alternative sites would result in less harm.”

A spokesperson for Holywell Conservation Group said: “We, and so many, are hugely relieved to hear that a planning application for a towering commercial 5G mast, with its untested RF emissions pulsing yet more electro-smog into our environment, and proposed for a popular conservation area of natural beauty, has been refused by the chief planning officer.

“This result sends a clear message to the telecoms companies and Eastbourne planning department that there is an increasing level of public concern when it comes to the proposed installation of 5G masts.”

Chair of Meads Community Association Dennis Scard said: “We have been instrumental in ensuring that local residents have been informed and as a result a number of local organisations took up the campaign which resulted in an overwhelming number of objections being sent to EBC planners. This has resulted in a victory for common sense.

“The MCA does not wish to stand in the way of upgrading telecommunications delivery but has urged planning officers to enter into discussions with applicants for more suitable locations.”

According to official government guidance, “'It is possible that there may be a small increase in overall exposure to radio waves when 5G is added to an existing network or in a new area. However, the overall exposure is expected to remain low relative to guidelines and, as such, there should be no consequences for public health. The UK Health Security Agency is committed to monitoring the evidence applicable to this and other radio technologies, and to revising its advice, should that be necessary.”

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