Agenda item

(Alderman McGimpsey had left the room whilst the item was under consideration)

            The case officer apprised the Committee of the application for the erection of a 17.5m high telecommunications mast and associated works including 3 No equipment cabinets.  He reported that the application site was located on the footpath opposite No 590 Shore Road and adjacent to Loughside Park.  Loughside playing fields were situated to the rear of the proposal.  The site was designated in the Belfast Metropolitan Area Plan 2015 with land zoned as existing Open Space.

            The case officer reported that although the site had been identified as an area of existing open space it was located on a footpath adjoining the Shore Road which was an arterial route.  The location of the mast and cabinets would be against a backdrop of trees along the Shore Road which would minimise any visual impact and therefore the proposal was not considered to be obtrusive.  In addition, the case officer advised that an International Commission for Non Ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) Declaration had been received which demonstrated that the proposal met the ICNIRP guidelines. 

            The Committee was advised that 246 objections had been received, which included a letter of objection from Mr. N. Dodds, MP and a late written submission from Alderman. G. Spence.  The case officer advised that the application had been assessed against relevant planning policy, particularly PPS10 telecommunications.  All objections had been considered within the context of the planning policy and all consultees had raised no objections and therefore the proposal was deemed to comply with the development plan regional planning policy.

            The Committee received representations from Mr. Samuel, objector, and Mr. L. Ross, agent.

            Mr. Samuel advised the Committee that he was representing Loughside Concerned Residents who were opposed to the erection of this mast.  He outlined that residents of this group felt that their objections in relation to the impact of the health and wellbeing of local people had been dismissed.  He highlighted the number of objections which had been received and also stated that, in his opinion, the consultation process had been very disjointed.  He stated that the location of this proposal was near to a play park, which appeared to also have been ignored within the context of the report, and he highlighted that one of the objections received had been from Playboard NI.  The representative proceeded to outline in detail the health and safety concerns of the local community and the specific reasons as to why this proposal should not be permitted to proceed.  

            Mr. Ross, explained that this application was a joint application between Telefonica (O2) and Vodafone and formed part of a regional rollout of 4G mobile services.  He outlined that the main Political Parties, businesses and the general public were all calling for better mobile phone coverage.  In addition to this, the Government recognised that high quality communications infrastructure was essential for economic growth and also identified a need for a more efficient telecommunications infrastructure that would give Northern Ireland a competitive advantage.  He advised the Committee that this site had been one of 8 possible options considered but each of the others had been ruled out at various stages.  He also stated that mast sharing had been explored but there had been no existing masts in the immediate vicinity and he stressed the need for this mast which he suggested would help play a vital role in improving telecommunications coverage for the area. 

            The Committee granted approval, subject to the imposing of the conditions set out within the case officer’s report.