A group of residents in Knowle say they are ‘passionate and angry’ about plans by two telecoms companies to erect a 24m high mobile phone mast in the grounds of the area’s main public park.
A campaign against the mast plan from EE and Hutchinson 3G has begun, with residents drafting objections to the proposal to Bristol City Council.
The mobile phone mast companies say they need the new mast in the middle of Redcatch Park to replace smaller ones that used to be in the area.
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Residents of Knowle gathered on Sunday (Feb 6) to mark out the scale of the area of the park that the mast and its infrastructure buildings would take up on the ground of Redcatch Park.
People living nearby who use the park said while the application by Walden Communications on behalf of the two phone companies is a temporary one for 18 months, it ‘appears’ the park will be a permanent solution to the phone companies’ problem of getting phone reception out in the area.
Last year, Waldon Communications applied and then withdrew an application to put the temporary phone mast on the edge of the park, right on Broad Walk next to the corner of the row of shops at the front of the shopping centre.
But now a new plan has been put forward, to put the mast inside the park. Council chiefs have told residents the deadline for objecting has been extended into March, but, as residents in Ashton Gate found in November 2020, Government legislation effectively gives mobile phone companies almost automatic permission to erect temporary phone masts, unless there are strong objections from local council chiefs.
The residents of Knowle are calling on as many people as possible to object to the council.
“This mast is 24 metres high and has a considerable infrastructure beneath it which will require regular servicing to the generator and other items of plant,” a spokesperson for a new group called ‘Hands off Redcatch Park’ said.
“It will be surrounded by a 2.6 metre fence made from reinforced concrete. This is a huge impingement on what is a very small, much loved and desperately needed oasis in our midst. We cannot allow this to happen to our precious green space.
"We are a group of passionate and angry residents from around the Knowle area who fervently believe we must act now.
"If we gather together as a community to fight the location of this mast in our beloved park then maybe we can prevent it happening.”
EE and Waldon Communications said the temporary mast is required in the area to boost mobile phone signals, after a mast was taken down from the site of a nearby former pub in Axminster Road.
A spokesperson for MNBL, the company behind the application, said: "The temporary site at Redcatch Park is to provide coverage following the loss of our permanent site which was housed at The Friendship Inn public house in Knowle.
"The building and land was acquired by developers and meant that we needed to vacate. This has resulted in a loss of coverage for both EE and Three customers.
"We do endeavour to find permanent solutions as quickly as possible but where circumstances prevail we work with the Local Planning Authorities to deploy temporary equipment so that the network services can be maintained, and those residents and businesses that rely upon EE and Three remain connected.
"We will continue to work closely with Bristol City Council and the Planning officers, as well as the Local Community during this process," they added.
A spokesperson for Bristol City Council said that the Electronics Communication Code legislation gave a lot of power to telecoms firms to install mobile phone masts where they decided there was a need.
"This is not a council scheme and relates to a process where the council as landowner has limited powers with which to oppose the temporary mast," he said.
"Despite being the landowner, there is legislation in place that limits council powers to prevent this type of work and allows telecoms operators to install their equipment (including masts) on a temporary basis.
"In this case, we have been approached by the telecoms provider to install a mast in order to prevent loss of service or network disruption following the impending loss of an existing site. In their proposal to the council, the provider has made it clear that they will seek a court order if needed to carry out this work. We continue to seek expert legal and telecoms advice and the telecoms operator has been asked to justify their use of these emergency powers," he added.
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