Phone mast plan thrown out Concerns over care home plans

A BID to build a 17 metre (56ft) phone mast on the main road through Oldbury Court has been refused.

Operator CK Hutchinson Networks, which operates the 3 mobile phone network, asked the city council whether it needed approval before installing the mast, which would have been capable of hosting up to six antennas, including new 5G technology, and a GPS module, outside the Vassall Centre.

The scheme also needed equipment and electricity cabinets for the mast, which the company wanted to put up between the junction of Gill Avenue and Vassall Road and a bus stop, outside the Vassall Centre car park.

Agent Clarke Telecom said the site was "identified as the most suitable option that balances operational need with local planning policies and national planning policy guidance", adding: "It will deliver public benefit in terms of the mobile services it will provide."

The agents said the application was prepared in accordance with the Code of Practice for Wireless Network Development in England.

However the planning department rejected the application, saying it would "result in unjustified harm upon the character and appearance of Gill Avenue and the surrounding area". An officer's report said 23 people had objected to the proposal.

Reasons given included that it would be "an eyesore, overbearing, out of proportion to all the other buildings in the area", that there was already a mast in the area, that it was too close to homes and Vassalls Park and would "bring house prices down and cause anxiety to residents".

The company has six months to lodge an appeal against the council's decision, which was made by officers rather than a planning committee.

PLANS to convert a former care home into two separate bedsit blocks and build seven homes behind it have sparked dozens of objections.

Concerns have also been raised by the Coal Authority, the government body which oversees former mine workings, over the plans to redevelop Chasefield House, at the top of Fishponds Road.

Developer HAS 7 Limited has submitted two separate applications for the site, which is at the junction with Staple Hill Road.

The first plan would see the former care home, which shut in 2020, turned into two houses in multiple occupation (HMOs), with a total of 19 bedrooms for rent.

Agent Stokes Morgan said HAS 7 planned to manage the HMOs, with tenants given short-term contracts and advice on how to interact with neighbours, not to use the garden at night and to "avoid parties on a frequent basis".

But 47 people have objected to the plans, including neighbours who say the planned HMO would have an "unacceptably high density of potential tenants", with only three car parking spaces proposed and a potential for "noise and disturbance".

A further 20 objections have been lodged against HAS 7's plans to build seven two-bedroom houses on land behind the care home currently occupied by a garden and outbuildings, which would be accessed via neighbouring Chasefield Lane.

Neighbours say the seven homes would be "crammed" onto the site and Chasefield Lane is unsuitable to become a well-used access road.

The Coal Authority has not formally objected but raised concerns over a coal seam close to the surface which could "pose a risk of ground instability and may give rise to the emission of mine gases". The HMO application can be found by searching for reference 22/04673/F on the council's planning website, while the new homes application is at reference 22/02990/F.