Planning Application for 17.5 metre high telecom mast

Planning Application for 17.5 metre high telecom mast on the corner of West End Avenue and Marsh Road

There is a current planning application, number P/4612/15 on the Harrow Council Planning website, for the “Installation of 17.5 Metre High Monopole Supporting Six Antennas and Two 300mm Microwave Dishes; Installation Of Two Radio Equipment Cabinets; Associated Development” in West End Avenue, adjacent to the flank wall of 171 Marsh Road.
The Pinner Association has submitted to the Harrow Council Planning Department an objection to this planning application to install a 17.5 metre high telecom mast adjacent to a residential area, citing the following reasons for our request for refusal of this application:

  1. Although the address on the application is 171 Marsh Road, the proposed site for the new mast and associated boxes and infrastructure is in West End Avenue, a residential road of attractive Edwardian style properties.  The industrial appearance and bulk of the proposed boxes and mast would not be appropriate in this location being quite incongruous in the streetscene.  In their “Design and Access Statement” the applicants state that the site is “in a built up area with a large amount of street furniture”, even though their “as existing” site plan illustrates that this is not the case.  Currently on the site there are six small bollards (to stop parking on the pavement at this corner site), a lamppost and one small existing cabinet, all on the kerb edge of the pavement.
    2. In their “Design and Access Statement” the applicants concede that the new 17.5 metre high mast would “be a relatively tall structure and would have an impact on the surrounding area”, but then go on to seek to detract from that statement by saying “this minimal impact is acceptable”.   To whom would it be “acceptable”?  The new mast, which would be over 57 feet high, and the associated boxes, would be highly visible to anyone approaching along Marsh Road from the central Pinner direction, and from all those approaching down West End Avenue.  Due to the excessive height of the proposed mast it would tower above the surrounding buildings and be completely out of scale in this location, and be visible, and therefore intrusive, over a wide area.  The impact would be far from minimal and entirely detrimental.
    3. The two new large boxes are proposed to be sited alongside the flank of the corner shop at the bottom of West End Avenue, but the new mast would be positioned in the centre of the pavement, and therefore could be a hazard to any visually impaired, or an otherwise disabled, pedestrian, as well as parents with buggies, etc..
  1. This application has no exhibited site notice and very few local properties have been sent letters of notification.  We feel that additional notification letters should be sent and that the time for responses should be extended to allow local people time to consider and comment on the proposed plans.
  1. There is currently no extant planning consent for the former petrol filling station site in Marsh Road and thus the applicants cannot be under immediate time pressure to relocate.  They should use this time to identify a new site free from the objections above, e.g. on top of an existing commercial building.
    6. If, in spite of the above objections, and those from local residents, planning consent is granted for the new mast and boxes, we ask that a condition be applied such that once the technological requirement for this intrusive infrastructure ceases then all the equipment should be removed from the site.