Pub against mast (From Stroud News and Journal)

Pub against mast

A PUBLICAN in Cashes Green has promised he will not allow a controversial mobile phone mast on pub land.

Graham Lee, boss of The Prince of Wales Inn, this week sought to defuse community fears by saying neither he nor pub owners, Enterprise Inns would allow Hutchinson 3G UK Ltd to install a mast disguised as a flag pole on the pub forecourt.

He said: "Myself and Enterprise Inns have refused them putting it up. We just don't want it basically. We've been part of the community a long time now and we don't want to go upsetting them.

"When we saw the actual planning application for a 15 metre mast we said this is ridiculous. It will look out of place and after the scare with radiation it's not something we want."

The application has aroused the objections of Cainscross Parish Council and veteran mast campaigner Lynne Edmunds, who fears for the safety of children at three nearby primary schools - Foxmoor, St Matthew's and Cashes Green. She described the application last week as "really, really bad".

After meeting on Monday Cainscross Parish Council chairman Cllr Jenny Miles said the council had agreed to ask the district council for a decision on the application to be deferred and for Hutchinson to look for another site away from, such as on farmland or along the bypass.

She said: "They are saying they're not unhealthy but sometimes with these things you discover later when you have more facts, they are. We think it is better to be safe than sorry and that it should not be sited near people."

The district council, which will process the application under delegated powers, said it had to give Hutchinson a decision by Tuesday, March 29.

The company can only go ahead and install the mast with permission from the landowner.

Its spokesman Mike Dobson said: "At this stage I've not seen written confirmation from the pub or the owners that that is the case. Obviously, if they are not willing for it to go there it will not be able to go there and we will have to withdraw the application.

"We will obviously need to have a look at the area again to see where the most appropriate place might be to meet our technical needs and blend in with the environment."