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Objection to Phone Mast near Bower Ashton Roundabout on 13th March 2012
Application Ref: 12/00380/F
Proposed erection of a 17.5m slimline telecommunications monopole together with equipment cabinet and ancillary equipment on highways verge.
Thank you for the recent consultation notification regarding the above application.
This reply is on behalf of the Bower Ashton Residents Association representing sixty-eight of the seventy-eight dwellings in Bower Ashton, the area most impacted by the planning proposal. We write to inform you that we OBJECT to the proposal. Below is a summary of our objections:
- The location is within a conservation area and will have significant visual impact.
- The location is in close proximity to local residents and an area trafficked by large numbers of school children.
- The new proposal is little more than a "lift & drop" exercise and is virtually identical to an earlier proposal - 10/04952/F which was comprehensively rejected by residents and planning authorities in 2011.
- The proposed mast is not needed.
Location with a conservation area and visual impact.
The proposed mast location sits within the boundary of the Bower Ashton Conservation Area and sits on the path of the "linked green space" between Greville Smyth Park and Ashton Court.
The land adjacent to the proposed mast is occupied by allotments and the mast will sit on a foot/cycle path which is frequented by residents and several hundred school children every day.
The proposed mast is at odds with the "Bristol Local Plan" (Section 26, Bower Ashton), in particular the General Enhancement Objectives. The objectives aim to improve the immediate area through screening, landscaping & tree planting.
We must not allow any further urbanisation of the area to occur when there is an overriding aim to reduce such influence.
In addition local residents have contributed their own time and money via community projects to improve the area in recent years.
In 2010 local residents planted around 50 trees in and around the Bower Ashton roundabout and in 2011 planted several thousand bulbs.
In 2012 the residents association, in conjunction with the Art College, are planning to commission a sculpture to the verge/roundabout to further enhance this asset to the City.
It would be a genuine tragedy if the goals of the Bristol Local Plan and the wishes and efforts of local residents were undone by the addition of such an eyesore to our local environment.
To see such community spirit is rare and we must do all we can to protect it, not allow it to be cast aside.
Proximity to dwellings.
A great deal of concern has been voiced locally that the proposal is so close to residential property, the nearest being around 60m away.
In the Supplementary Information accompanying the current proposal Vodafone states that the new proposal, following the earlier rejection,
moves the proposed site to a location "further from residential property within Bower Ashton".
This is a welcome acknowledgement from the developers that such sites should not be located near residential property.
However, due to the higher density of housing on Blackmoors, Rowlands and Parklands, the new proposal brings a greater number of dwellings into play, not fewer.
The logic that Vodafone are deploying here is difficult to justify.
There are a large number of family homes in the area with small children and we consider this to be a material consideration.
Need.
It is unclear as to who will benefit from the proposal. Free WiFi is available at the Art College (who have previously objected to the mast in Bower Ashton) and local residents and staff who work in Ashton Court have advised us that they have an acceptable service for voice and data on the Vodafone network. Whilst we appreciate the need for infrastructure development to meet future need, it is far from clear what benefit would be brought by the proposals, particularly within an area with such low population density.
"Lift & Drop" from earlier proposal.
An earlier application (10/04952/F) was comprehensively rejected by residents and planning authorities in 2011.
It is extremely frustrating to see the wishes of local residents ignored by Vodafone.
This new application amounts to little more than a lift & drop exercise.
Very little has changed other than an increase in height of the mast - it is now 17.5m against the original 12.5m.
Summary.
The location and impact of the proposals are clearly inappropriate and unacceptable.
The application would have detrimental effect on the locality generally and the benefit has not been demonstrated.
The Bower Ashton Residents Association argue that the application should not be granted.
Yours faithfully
Darren Hayes
Chairman - Bower Ashton Residents Association
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