Plan for 5G mast on golf club land turned down

Council bosses said the installation of the 20-metre pole at South Staffordshire Golf Club would have a negative  visual impact on nearby homes.

Made by Cornerstone, the application for the monopole – along with 12 antennas, four dishes and four ground-based cabinets at the Codsall Road site – would be detrimental to the views of residents in neighbouring properties, planners decided.

In a report outlining the reasons for refusal, planning officer Mr Jobe Elwell said: “The proposed 20.6m high mast would stand out as a noticeably prominent feature to many neighbouring dwelling houses. This is exacerbated by its wider than average monopole and a weighty and cluttered antenna headframe, rendering it a visually obtrusive and overbearing addition.

“This is compounded further by the limited separation distances of approximately 27m and 43m to the nearest habitable windows of neighbouring homes. Although the existing tree line provides a degree of screening from the front facing row of houses along the road, the obtrusive antenna headframe would still be a visually prominent and incongruous addition.

“In the case of one home in Codsall Road, their side-facing habitable windows would have a full and unobstructed view of the mast and base compound. No attempts have been made to mitigate this and the visually obtrusive design would detrimentally harm their visual amenities.

“It is considered by the local planning authority that not all reasonable attempts have been made to provide an acceptable appearance, or to effectively mitigate any remaining harm,” he added.

“Although the proposal would make a positive contribution to the high-quality

telecommunications network, in this instance this does not outweigh the material harm also presented.”