More than 50 people turned out to voice their anger about the new phone mast in Woodingdean at a public meeting last night (Wednesday 30 November).
The mast, in Warren Road, went up despite being refused planning permission by Brighton and Hove City Council.
But mistakes meant that the refusal letter was not sent out in time which, in law, enabled Vodafone and O2 owner Telefonica – and their joint mast logistics firm Cornerstone (CTIL) – to go ahead and put it up.
Neighbours said that there were better alternative nearby sites which were less visibly intrusive and not so close to school and nursery children.
The public meeting last night was held at Woodingdean Youth Centre – which is also in the shadow of the mast.
It was organised by the two Woodingdean Ward councillors, Dee Simson and Steve Bell, who both attended the meeting, with Councillor Bell chairing.
Residents shared their views and had questions for council officials including Nick Hibberd, the executive director for economy, environment and culture, whose brief includes planning. He was joined by Andrew Ashcroft, the interim head of planning, and planning manager Nicola Hurley.
The council apologised again as it emerged that two letters had gone astray between the Planning Department and the council’s post room during the 56-day period when the council was required to decide whether to grant planning permission for the mast.
And it was pointed out that not all schools or the nearby children’s nursey were contacted during the consultation period, with consultation letters sent to only a few local residents.
One of those present said: “Questions flew from the floor but few answers were coming back from the officers.”
Councillor Bell proposed holding a further meeting next month so that officers would be better able to answer residents’ questions and bring a member of the legal team with them. This was supported by an overwhelming majority of the residents at the meeting.
After the meeting Councillor Simson said: “We again only see a breakdown in council process which has led to misery for our residents.”
Councillor Bell said: “The officers left with an understanding that we are not letting this disastrous decision drop and we will continue to campaign against the council for a full explanation.”
I am sure more than 50 residents of Woodingdean will benefit from better mobile phone reception. As a resident of Woodingdean I have had to put up with telephone poles spoiling my views which no one can stop. Unfortunately our Council’s planning department seems hell bent on making jobs worth awards rather than doing its job properly. Perhaps if it did not trouble over silly little issues, it might havwe time to represent its public better.
Better signal is an absolute must in the area. I have no idea why everyone is so upset regarding what is essentially an extented lamp post.
Clearer signal? I have no signal problem anywhere in Woodingdean area ,but oddly enough since that pole went up I have had terrible problems with my t.v .I didn’t even think of it but three seperate people have said the same and wondered if somehow it gets in the way of aerials. It is an eyesore and there are so many better places it could have been put. The council should be made answerable for there excuse of missing mail how convenient you would think they would be more organised over such important matters ,disgraceful.
as an ex council worker myself, I can guess exactly what went wrong here because I have seen it time and time again. Cuts, and more cuts in staffing have seen fewer and fewer staff to do jobs. I dont know much about post room but I put my money on the fact that there are about a third the moment there were 5 years ago. I left 6 months ago and mail runs were just being cut from a daily to a two daily affair at that time. I suspect someone probably went off sick and there was no one to cover the post run. The reality is that if the public wants reliable local services, including NHS, as well as councils, they need to vote and get the Tories out. I live in Woodingdean. Am I happy about the fact that our rights were ridden over buy corporation? Absolutely not. In fact, i am furious. Am I surprised? No. Not in the slightest. There will be many many more errors like this one. We are seeing the same in local GPs, Hospitals etc. If you dont like it, you know what to do..