New twist over plans to install ‘obtrusive’ 5G mast outside church and primary school in Wolverhampton

A new 20-metre 5G mast could still be installed outside a primary school and church in Wolverhampton despite plans being rejected by council planners.

Wolverhampton Council refused plans to position the telecommunications mast next to St Luke’s CE Primary School and the Grade-II listed St Luke’s Church in Moor Street South/Park Street South, Wolverhampton, saying the structure would be “obtrusive and incongruous”.

The applicant Jet Infrastructure has now appealed the rejection to the Government’s Planning Inspectorate which has the power to overrule the council and allow the work to go ahead.

The council’s planners said the location and size of the mast would be “detrimental” to the street and “prominent and overbearing, introducing visual clutter”.

“Whilst a degree of screening from certain angles would be provided from the adjacent industrial unit, it would not be to an extent to minimise the impact on the street scene or the listed church,” planners added.

“Nevertheless, at 20m high, broader in width and double the height of the surrounding lighting columns, the mast and antennas would sit prominently above the adjacent buildings, standing out as an alien man-made feature, creating a harmful juxtaposition within this setting.

“Furthermore, the proposed mast is located opposite a primary school and in close proximity to a listed building which are considered to be more sensitive locations.”

The application also said that while the listed church and primary school were “sensitive” locations, the area was still “heavily urbanised”.

A statement included with the application said: “The proposed installation would be located approximately 75m from the front elevation of the church, set back from the principal frontage and adjacent to an existing industrial building, thereby reducing its prominence within the wider townscape.

“At a wider scale, the site occupies a transitional area between established employment land to the west and predominantly residential neighbourhoods to the east.

“However, the immediate character around the application site is unequivocally industrial and commercial, with large warehouse buildings, commercial yards and associated infrastructure forming the defining visual characteristics of the locality.”

Jet Infrastructure had argued that alternative locations including rooftops had been rejected for a “combination of planning, technical and operational reasons”.

“Accordingly, the proposed site represents the least harmful and most appropriate option within the available search area,” a statement included with the application continued.

“It satisfies the operational requirements of the network whilst minimising impacts on nearby sensitive receptors through its location within an established industrial streetscape, its relationship with existing built form, and the screening provided by surrounding development and vegetation.”