Mast causes outrage (From Stroud News and Journal)

Mast causes outrage

SHOCKED Stroud residents were dismayed this week to see a large telecoms mast on the roof of a prominent building in a residential area.

The mast, on the roof of the Cotswold Playhouse in Parliament Street, was put up with no consultation with people living close by.

Residents say they felt outraged that they had not been consulted by mobile phone company O2 UK.

The SNJ newsroom has received a number of calls from residents fearful that the aerial could be a TETRA mast, which anti-mast campaigners believe could be harmful to humans.

Tim Harris, from nearby Chapel Street told the SNJ: "I'm furious about it. It sticks out like a sore thumb.

"I watched builders on the new extension and then they put up this aerial on the existing roof. At no time have we been consulted on this."

A worried mother was as concerned about the health risks as yet another blot on the architectural landscape of the area. "It may pose health problems to children," she said. "We were surprised to see it go up and nobody told us about it. It is big and terribly noticeable."

Stroud Mayor John Marjoram said he would be looking into the matter. "I will investigate this and see how it got through planning,' he said.

"I'm extremely distressed at the amount of communication towers going up in the area."

Town councillor Andy Read, who lives nearby in The Leazes, said: "It would have been good manners and neighbourly to inform people of what is going on."

It appears, however, that masts can be constructed under a general permitted development order (GPDO) without public consultation or notification, as Darryl Rogers, senior planning officer for Stroud District Council, explained.

"Mobile operators are well within their rights and can carry out work without requiring formal planning applications," he said. "In this planning instance it is like putting up a garden shed."

Development manager Nathaniel Rogers from 02 UK in Slough said on Monday that the mast, which will be operational in two to three months, would not cause any health risks.

"It is not a TETRA mast," he said. "It is a mast to improve mobile phone coverage capacity."