Residents win battle against phone mast

NEIGHBOURS are celebrating after an application to put up a mobile phone mast was rejected.

Telefonica O2 wanted to put up a mast, which it described as a “replica telegraph pole” next to the One Stop shop on the junction of Hillside Avenue with Lowestoft Road in Worlingham, near Beccles.

A number of residents wrote to Waveney District Council to oppose the application, many of whom claimed it would be an eyesore and too tall at 12.5m.

One of the letters said: “The proposed installation will be an unpleasant eyesore which is out of keeping with the surroundings. It is much taller than the adjacent properties and will be seen by all the people using Hillside Avenue shopping parade and the busy Lowestoft Road.”

Other letters highlighted concerns about flooding, and the safety of mobile phone masts.

Lowestoft Road resident Peggy Cowburn, said: “We're very pleased that it has been rejected. It would have been quite big and would have been very prominent to everybody using this area.

“Also we've had problems with flash flooding on that corner of the road and they've had the road up and we think it has been sorted out - the mast would have been built over it.”

The 83-year-old, who would have been able to see the mast from her front garden, added: “Quite a few people objected, and thought it was bad that children could be in contact with something like this. A lot of children go to the shop after school and sit on the wall and eat ice creams and we didn't think it would be good for them.”

The application to put up the mast was refused by Waveney District Council stating that the mast would have a “detrimental impact on the character and appearance of the street scene,” which would be exacerbated by the significantly greater height of the pole in relation to other buildings.