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Data mast plan for Pembrokeshire national park rejected

BBC protestors on a forest road holding no mast placardBBC
People staged a protest against plans for the 51m mast

Plans for a data mast in a national park have been rejected by officials.

Britannia Towers II Ltd wanted to build the 51m (167ft) tower in Pantmaenog Forest near Rosebush in Pembrokeshire Coast National Park.

It sparked opposition from people living nearby who said it would harm tourism and bring no benefits to the area.

Planners for the authority agreed, saying the adverse impact of the proposal was "unacceptable".

In its decision, Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority said the mast would have an "unacceptable adverse impact" on the landscape which were "not outweighed by the potential community benefits suggested".

The tower, along with associated transmission dishes and an equipment shed, would have been visible on an area of "heath and moorland" in Preseli hills.

Jess Wallace
Campaigner Jess Wallace said the telecommunication tower would harm a "pristine landscape"

Maenclochog Community Council formally objected to the plan, questioning how a tower linking a finance company in London to Ireland would benefit anyone locally.

The Dutch data network firm behind the proposal, Wholesailor, said this was the ideal location and it "urgently needed planning granted".

Campiagner Jess Wallace said the area had been "a sacred landscape for thousands of years".

"Seventy-five years ago, the local residents fought off the MoD [Ministry of Defence] who wanted to appropriate this landscape," she said, calling the development an incursion "on what is a pristine landscape".