Beacon Fell: Beauty spot phone mast plan rejected after campaign

Joanna Sebborn campaigned against the phone mast proposed for Beacon Fell

A bid to install a 130ft (40m) high phone mast close to the summit of a popular beauty spot has failed.

Telecoms firm Cornerstone wanted to put the mast in the Beacon Fell Country Park in Goosnargh, but Preston City Council has refused permission.

Planning officers said the proposed development would be "detrimental to the character and appearance" of "a landmark feature within the skyline".

Just two people wrote to the council in support of the plans.

Joanna Sebborn, who lives in the shadow of the hill - part of the Forest of Bowland area of outstanding natural beauty in Lancashire - mounted a campaign against the proposal after the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) revealed the details in January.

Concerned that the only reason there had not been more opposition to the prospect of the mast was because those who used the fell were unaware of it, she spent days at the site leafleting locals and visitors from further afield. 

Her efforts led to more than 3,000 people signing a petition objecting to the lattice-style tower, which would have stood almost 33ft (10m) taller than the trees surrounding it - and required five of them to be chopped down.

Ms Sebborn said the public response, which also included the submission of 123 written objections to the town hall, may well have "made all the difference".

One of Ms Sebborn's posters that she had pinned around Beacon Fell

"I'd like to think the council might still have seen how ridiculous it was, but who knows whether the points people made helped to tip the balance?

"I at least had to try to make sure as many people as possible knew about it and could make up their own minds.

"I hope this gives others the confidence that they can oppose things they don't want in their own area - and they can win."

The Cornerstone scheme was part of a nationwide effort to improve mobile reception and 4G broadband coverage in rural areas.

'Significant harm'

However, Ms Sebborn maintained that there was no need for it, because locals had invested in bringing high-speed connectivity to the village via the specialist provider, Broadband for the Rural North (B4RN).

In the report outlining the reasons for its decision, Preston City Council said local authorities cannot "question the need for an electronic communications system" and acknowledged official mapping indicated that indoor signal to the north and east of the 764ft-high (266m) Beacon Fell is poor.

But the authority noted that the area is "covered by both good outdoor mobile signal and ultrafast broadband", meaning it considered the benefits of the proposal to be "minor".

In assessing the impact of the mast on the landscape, the decision notice stated: "The proposal would cause significant harm to the important characteristics of Beacon Fell, its undeveloped openness and wide visibility."

The city council also warned of the potential impact of the 10.5ft-wide (3.2m) access route that would have to be created to enable construction traffic to reach the site - an element of the project which would require separate permission and "would likely require additional trees to be removed" to the five already earmarked for felling.