Yorkshire Dales: 115ft phone tower plan approved

An application to construct a 115ft-tall (35m) mobile phone mast in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in the Yorkshire Dales has been approved.

Mobile provider Cornerstone plan to build the tower in Ox Close Plantation, Healey, near Masham, where a report said existing 4G coverage was "spasmodic".

A council planning officer had said the tower's height was "excessive".

However, on Tuesday the scheme was unanimously given the go-ahead.

The application is part of the Shared Rural Network venture, which is a £1bn drive between government and major mobile network operators to improve the UK's digital connectivity.

By 2025, the venture is expected to achieve 4G coverage in 95% of the UK.

Documents considered by councillors stated existing 4G coverage for villages in the area was intermittent, with only areas of higher ground able to receive a signal.

However, because the plantation sits within the AONB, which has strict planning laws, a council officer recommended refusing the application to preserve "scenic beauty".

But the Local Democracy Reporting Service said councillors at a meeting of the Skipton and Ripon planning committee ignored the recommendation and backed the mast proposal, due to its positive impact on residents and businesses in the area.

Skipton councillor, Robert Heseltine, said the plans should be approved "as a matter of principle" so rural communities could receive the same services as urban ones.

Councillor Heseltine said: "Residents and businesses of rural North Yorkshire have an absolute expectation to receive the same service as the rest of this nation."

Meanwhile, Ripon councillor, Andrew Williams, cited exceptions for building in the AONB and the Yorkshire Dales.

He referred to the giant "golf balls" at RAF Menwith Hill which "obliterate" the landscape and the Bilsdale television transmitter.

Councillor Williams said: "The landscape has always changed and will continue to change.

"Here are people who are unable to work from home, they can't get any form of communication, that has an impact on running businesses.

"It's not for townies to impose rules and restrictions on rural communities that makes them impossible to be viable."

The plans were approved unanimously.

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