Council opposes 'bonkers' water meter pole plan

Plans to install hundreds of telegraph poles to monitor water meters are unacceptable, councillors have agreed.

Essex and Suffolk Water (ESW) said it needed to put up the poles in parts of Norfolk because the current network coverage was not good enough for new smart meters to connect to.

A total of 157 of the poles would go in Great Yarmouth, but county councillors voted to oppose the plan, with Conservative Jane James calling it "bonkers".

She said the council had offered the use of its own data network for the project, but that was turned down by the company.

The firm has been rolling out new smart meters which are capable of providing automatic readings and detecting leaks.

It said its poles would be under 15m (49ft) in height and every step had been "taken to minimise the number and visual impact".

Putting forward a motion against the plan, James – the councillor responsible for innovation - said she had asked the firm to consider using the authority's own data network which was already in place.

The company had reached a similar agreement in Southend-on-Sea, but rejected the offer in Norfolk, she said.

"My plea is to these organisations, stop what you're doing and take a common sense approach to this matter," she told a meeting of the full council.

"If you can do it elsewhere, why not here in Norfolk?"

Labour councillor Colleen Walker said one of the poles was installed near her home in Belton last week and was "the most obnoxious looking thing you could ever wish for".

"I cannot believe what they have done in that village," she added.

With the motion backed unanimously by all parties, the Conservative council leader Kay Mason Billig said she would ask ESW to stop its work and look at alternative solutions.

The motion by James referred to the installation of poles in Great Yarmouth, but the councillors agreed to oppose them anywhere in Norfolk.

Ultimately though, the council has no legal say over the matter, so the company can choose to ignore her.

In a joint statement, Essex and Suffolk Water and the company's contractor Connexin said that Norfolk's existing network only offered "limited coverage".

"Fewer than 350 new poles over the next few years are being installed across our Norfolk border, with every step taken to minimise the number and visual impact," the statement added.

It also said the companies were "committed to working in partnership with the community".

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