Plans approved for new 15m mobile phone mast in Douglas

Woodbourne Lane sits behind a row of houses in Douglas

Controversial plans to build a mobile phone mast in a conservation area in the Manx capital have been approved.

The 15 metre (49 foot) pole will be erected at a vacant plot on Woodbourne Lane in Douglas by telecoms company Sure.

Planners approved the move despite opposition from some local residents and politicians.

The planners' report gave it the green light since there were "a lack of alternative suitable sites".

Sure's chief executive Mike Phillips said the decision would help to "future-proof the island's mobile technologies including 5G".

He said the work "was in line with the Isle of Man Government's progressive and ambitious National Telecommunication Strategy".

Peter Kelly of the Victorian Society

The plans were opposed by the Isle of Man Victorian Society.

Member Peter Kelly said it was a commercial development designed to "make money" for the company, which did not take the visual impact of the mast into account.

Also opposed were Douglas Central MHKs Chris Thomas and Ann Corlett

Douglas Central MHK Chris Thomas said the sharing of existing masts should have been considered.

"We need to use existing infrastructure, existing masts... for instance lamp posts and other telegraph posts," he said.