BAMM celebrates phone mast victory

PEOPLE power won the day again, after Adur planners threw out a bid by Orange to put up a mobile phone mast.

Shoreham Beach residents' action group, Beach Against Mobile Mast (BAMM), objected on behalf of 600 people living in the area and staged a peaceful protest outside the Civic Centre on Monday evening, before Adur's planning committee.

Adur District Council received 353 letters from people living near the proposed site of the mast.

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Orange wanted to put up a 12m mast, with three antennae and four equipment cabinets, opposite the entrance to the Adur recreation ground, on the busy A259 road near the Norfolk Bridge.

BAMM celebrated last July after Adur council turned down a similar application, but was forced to relaunch its battle in November after Orange submitted a revised scheme.

During the meeting, protestors sat in the public gallery holding up placards, while Marine ward councillor Liza McKinney spoke against the application to the committee.

She said: "Please refuse this. The whole application is a lemon. You can't place a mast on a such a busy site without causing traffic gridlock in Shoreham when it needs to be maintained or serviced.

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"We don't believe Orange has looked at alternative sites, and its website already demonstrates excellent coverage in the area, so putting a mast there would be a waste of time and money."

She added that Shoreham's MP, Tim Loughton, had suggested a meeting with mobile phone mast providers to discuss alternative sites.

But Adur's planning head Peter Davies said: "From experience, phone companies don't attend meetings, they appeal."

Although Orange did not need planning permission for the mast, as it is not in a conservation area and is less than 15m tall, mobile phone operators have to submit details to the local authority of the siting and appearance of any masts they want to built.

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Councils can then decide whether or not to accept those details.

Orange claimed the mast was needed to improve network coverage to the west of Shoreham, but objectors feared possible health effects from emissions from the mast and it would be a visual intrusion on the skyline.

Planning officers said the application should be turned down because there was nowhere for maintenance vehicles to safely park on the busy A259. Vehicles would disrupt traffic while work was carried out on the mast and equipment cabinets.

The committee agreed with the grounds for refusal, and also added it would be a visual intrusion, voting unanimously to turn it down.

After the meeting, Patricia Ghost, from BAMM, said: "We are delighted it was refused."

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