Bracknell 5G: 'Eyesore' mast near housing estate rejected by council

The tower would have been placed on Ringmead, opposite Appledore, in Bracknell

Plans to build an "eyesore" 5G mast behind a housing estate have been rejected.

Bracknell Forest Council has refused to approve a proposal from Cignal Infrastructure.

The firm wanted to build a 15m-high (49ft) pole behind the Great Hollands estate in Bracknell, Berkshire.

Residents wrote to the council expressing concerns the mast would damage the views from their houses and lower their value.

Paul Wright, whose garden would have backed onto the mast, said he was relieved to hear the authority had denied planning permission.

He said: "That's the biggest part of my stress life gone. I was getting pretty stressed over it, but luckily the council has seen sense."

Dot Surveying had said the height of the proposed street pole was "the minimum required to bring the benefits of 5G to this area"

Cignal Infrastructure wanted to install the pole on behalf of mobile network operator Three.

The mast would have been opposite Appledore, and behind houses on Ambassador - a location Cignal said would not "overly harm" the appearance of the surrounding streets.

More than 20 residents of nearby streets wrote to the council to object to the proposed installation of the mast.

A Three spokesperson said: "5G rollout is vital for residents and businesses of Bracknell. While we try to keep mast sites as unobtrusive as possible, they do need to be situated near to where people will be using the service and, in many cases, in precise locations to ensure the widest breadth of coverage.

"We are considering the council's reasons for refusal and assessing our next steps."

Changes to the law in April allow bigger, taller phone masts to be built without planning permission