Preseli Hills: Data mast row sparks national park fears

It has been suggested the mast could be partially painted green to help it fit in with the surrounding environment

A proposal for a 167ft (50.9m) communications mast in a national park has sparked fears it could set a precedent for other UK beauty spots.

An application for the structure on Preseli Hills was turned down by Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority last October.

It stated concerns about "visual amenity" but the applicant is now appealing the decision.

Agents Waldon Telecom and end users Wholesailor have been asked to comment.

Opponents of the plan have warned "no national park in the United Kingdom will be safe" from development if the planning appeal is granted.

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A new group, Custodians and Friends of the Preseli, is fighting the proposals.

Local artist and group member Jess Wallace said she was worried reversing the decision could set a dangerous precedent, and that the structure would "desecrate" the area of Pembrokeshire's national park.

"If this is permitted, in a national park which is an ancient sacred landscape and the cradle of Stonehenge, no national park in the United Kingdom will be safe," she said.

"They will just be merely for sale for the highest bidder."

Jess Wallace says approval would set a precedent that beauty spots are "merely for sale"

Ms Wallace said the structure would be a data communications tower, rather than a phone mast, and there were "no commitments" from its proposed developer on how it would benefit the community.

"They make vague noises about the possibility of improving local mobile connection but there's no commitment for that at all," she said.

The application is for a mast supporting nine transmission dishes and six mobile phone antennas, to transmit financial data between the UK and Ireland.

But Waldon Telecom, representing applicants Britannia Towers II Ltd, said it could also provide "improved connectivity to the surrounding area" if mobile operators choose to use it.

Critics fear the communications mast - visualised here in a mock-up - would destroy the "sacred" landscape

The peak of the galvanised steel lattice tower would reach a height of 1,410ft (430m) above sea level, on a hill above Rosebush.

The agents suggested that the bottom half of the mast could be painted "fir green" up to the height of the adjacent trees to help it blend in with the character of the area.

The appeal will be considered by a planning inspector from Planning and Environment Decisions Wales (PEDW).

Members of the public have until midnight on Wednesday 27 September to submit their comments.

Elizabeth Haines worries the mast would detract from the "safe place for recreation"

Elizabeth Haines, an artist who lives near the proposed mast site, said: "The message it would send out [is] that the world of money-making is deemed to be more important than the stated aims of the national park, all national parks, to provide a safe place for recreation."

The appeal to have the mast built has been backed by Vodafone, which has written a letter of support claiming that "the tower will provide significant mobile broadband service uplift across a wide area".

In a lengthy document submitted to PEDW, Waldon Telecom said that "planning permission should have been granted based on the fact that the public benefits that would be brought by the proposal would outweigh the impact of the development".

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