Neighbours say giant mast drives them 'radio ga ga' (From Stroud News and Journal)

Neighbours say giant mast drives them 'radio ga ga'

10:00am Saturday 1st August 2009 in News By Nick Wakefield

RADIO ham Robert Dodson is fighting calls to remove a 27ft mast from his back garden despite complaints from neighbours.

Mr Dodson, 59, of Daffodil Leaze, King’s Stanley, who uses the mast to communicate with fellow enthusiasts across the globe, was served an enforcement notice for its removal after he erected it without permission last September.

A planning inquiry began at Ebley Mill on Wednesday during which Michael Matthews, counsel for Mr Dodson, outlined his grounds for appeal while SDC senior enforcement officer Jamie Cooper upheld the authority’s position.

Both parties thrashed out legal issues surrounding the mast, which is capable of extending to 60ft, and argued whether it is a temporary or permanent structure, which would determine if it needed planning permission.

Mr Dodson claims he has not breached planning regulations because the aerial is mounted on a trailer, but Mr Cooper said it was big enough and in Mr Dodson’s garden often enough to be considered permanent.

Also present were several neighbours who called the mast an ‘eyesore’ and claimed it interfered with their TV, radio and telephone signals.

One neighbour, Linda Blackwell, said her daughter heard voices through her computer speakers one night, while another, Kerry McIntosh, said she has problems recording films on her Sky system because of it.

But Mr Dodson said the mast had twice been tested and approved by Ofcom.

Others claimed it marred their views of the surrounding landscape and made a loud ‘howling’ noise when the wind blew through it – keeping them awake at night.

Speaking after the hearing, Mr Dodson, who runs an amateur radio sales website, said: "I would have been happy to work with my neighbours to solve their problems – but they have not taken the right approach."

"I have had people banging on my door and swearing.

"If they do not like it they do not have to look at it." Ms Blackwell, who lives next door, said: "It is overbearing and it spoils my enjoyment of the garden.

"No one would be happy with that in their neighbour’s garden."

A decision is expected to be made within the next month.