Planning permission for a 20m 5G telecoms pole in a leafy, quiet suburb of Cardiff has been rejected after more than a dozen residents complained - and senior politicians including Mark Drakeford joined them. Residents wrote to the council to oppose the plans, calling the mast an "eyesore," saying it would have a "detrimental visual impact" on nearby houses, and that it would be a distraction to drivers.
The mast was planned to go up at the junction of Heol Isaf and Min-Y-Coed (leading to Ty Mynydd Close and Cilfedw) in Radyr, the entrance to three quiet cul-de-sacs in a sought-after area of Cardiff. Residents were keen to stress that the area had won awards for its beauty and were worried about the mast's impact on it. Dr Derek Smith said: "There are well maintained grassed areas to either side of the road and a display of daffodils in the Spring. Min-y-Coed has twice won the 'Cardiff in Bloom' competition."
And Ceri Hague-Morgan and Marilyn Hague-Morgan OBE commented: "The National Planning Policy emphasises the need for planning to contribute to the enhancement of the national environment. Since the mast will do the exact opposite, it seems perverse to site the mast at a location known for its AWARD-WINNING attractiveness. This is especially the case since alternative sites nearby are available (siting near the motorway, for example)."
READ MORE: Recovery gets underway after Wales hit by month's rainfall in 24 hours
Residents also objected due to how close the proposed mast would be to a nearby zebra crossing. Mr John Watkins commented: "I feel that locating this mast next to a zebra crossing is a ridiculous choice as this will be a distraction for motorists approaching the crossing when they should be focusing on members of the public crossing the road. I feel it is an accident waiting to happen."
As well as more than a dozen residents objecting to the plans, senior politicians including First Minister Mark Drakeford, local MP Kevin Brennan, and Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies wrote in with their concerns. Although none of them explicitly opposed the plan, Mr Drakeford and Mr Brennan jointly wrote: "We welcome the development of new 5G telecommunications infrastructure to improve digital connectivity across the constituency. However, residents have raised a number of concerns related to the selected site.
"Residents do not believe that the anticipated visual intrusion of this proposal will assimilate well into the immediate street scene, or be mitigated by the adjacent tree which they explain has been cut back and would in any case only cover a particular angle."
Mr Drakeford signed the letter as the Member of the Senedd for Cardiff West, not as the First Minister. Mr Drakeford and Mr Brennan noted that other proposed sites had been rejected due to how close they were to residential buildings, pointing out that the site in Radyr was also close to a house and visible from several others. They also queried whether the colour of the mast (grey) would blend in with its surroundings.
Councillor Adrian Robson wrote in on behalf Andrew RT Davies, who as well as being the Welsh Conservative leader is the Senedd member for South Wales Central. He noted that "alternative nearby sites" were available, which weren't as close to houses and had better tree cover - citing the junction of Heol Isaf and Bryn Derwen.
Cllr Robson also wrote: "Phone masts are usually proposed as being steel grey in colour. Whilst Andrew hopes that a different site can be considered, if the planning authority is minded to grant the application can a condition be added that the mast is coloured green?"
Community councillor Huw Onllwyn Jones also gave his opinion, acknowledging that people in Radyr and Morganstown had described existing phone signal strength as "poor or terrible," and that the mast would help - but said: "I would welcome any moves to move it to a less intrusive location.
"Wherever it is located, however, it should be kept away from areas where it would be an obvious eyesore. It would be unacceptable, for instance, if we were to be faced with the same situation faced by residents in Whitchurch, following installation of a mast on Merthyr Road, in the heart of their community."
The mast in Whitchurch went up overnight in September 2022, after the initial planning application was rejected, and then approved on appeal. Residents criticised it for dwarfing its surroundings, making Whitchurch look like an "ugly village," and looking "atrocious."
The application for the Radyr mast was submitted by CK Hutchison Networks (UK) Ltd, owners of mobile provider Three. The company submitted documents saying the site was needed to "provide new 5G coverage for H3G LTE, improving service in and around this area subject to this application," adding: "The cell search areas for 5G are extremely constrained with a typical cell radius of approximately 50m."
The National Planning Policy Framework makes it clear that local authorities shouldn't question the need for new electronic communications infrastructure when considering plans. Planning laws mean that in many cases, these are 'permitted developments,' and don't need the local authority's approval.
In this case, the council said the mast needed prior approval because it would be "located in a highly prominent location with impacts on the locality and residential amenity which requires consideration," although planning laws also indicate that masts over 20m tall need planning permission anyway.
The council rejected permission for the mast, saying: "The proposed mast would be located in a highly prominent location at the entrance to a residential estate at the junction of Heol Isaf and Tymynydd Close. It is considered that the introduction of the proposed mast would, by reason of its height, siting and design, appear unacceptably incongruous and have an unacceptably adverse impact upon the visual amenity and character of the surrounding residential area contrary to Policy KP 5 of the Cardiff Local Development Plan 2006-2026.
"By reason of its height, and siting in close proximity to neighbouring properties, the development would have an adverse impact upon the amenity of adjoining residential occupiers, contrary to Policy KP 5 of the Cardiff Local Development Plan 2006-2026."
Some residents also raised concerns about the radiation from the mast, citing that its placement next to a steep hill would mean the top of the mast was at a similar height to houses in the area. The overall scientific consensus on this is unclear.
In 2021, epidemiologist Professor John William Frank wrote in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health that the worldwide rollout of 5G networks should be halted as a "precautionary" measure, until the impact of 5G EMF exposure on human health was known.
A briefing note submitted with the planning application said that current exposure limit guidelines covered 5G frequencies, and that the higher frequency of 5G did not mean a higher level of exposure. The note added that RF electromagnetic fields had been found to be "possibly carcinogenic" by a working group of the International Agency for Research on Cancer, a definition used when a causal association is "considered credible, but when chance, bias or confounding cannot be ruled out with reasonable confidence."
READ NEXT:
