RESIDENTS...3 T-MOBILE...0
BY MELISSA BECK
Derbyshire Evening Telegraph
09:30 - 17 September 2005
People power has ensured a third set of plans to install a mobile phone mast in Shelton Lock have been withdrawn.
The latest application to install an 11.7m mast in Chellaston Road came in December after residents and Derby City Council planners quashed two previous proposals.
But next Wednesday, residents attending an Area Panel 2 meeting, which consists of the council wards of Alvaston, Boulton, Chellaston and Sinfin, will be told that T-Mobile has withdrawn the plans again.
The first proposal was made by T-Mobile in October 2003 to install an 11m mast on a grass verge outside the Shelton Lock Fish Bar, at the junction of Chellaston Road and Weston Park Avenue.
About 400 residents signed a petition and, in March 2004, the plans were withdrawn.
The company then submitted new plans for a mast in front of the Esso garage in Chellaston Road - about 200 metres from the original site.
Another petition was submitted to the council and the proposal was rejected by planners in June 2004 after they said it would obstruct the pavement and the visibility of drivers.
A formal application does not have to be submitted to the council for masts under 15 metres, but planners can reject proposals if the site is inappropriate, obstructs the pavement or the visibility of drivers.
The latest plans for a site on Chellaston Road, which have now been withdrawn, would have been near the filling station and would have included an equipment cabin in Acorn Close. Residents again set up a petition collecting more than 250 signatures.
Phil Day, of Chellaston Road, said: "At the moment it seems the residents are winning the battle against T-Mobile. But we don't know what alternative locations the company is considering. We don't want to push it into other people's back gardens."
Andreas Symeou, of Shelton Lock Fish Bar, is delighted with the company's decision.
He said: "It shows that if the community gets together then sometimes you can beat the big companies."
Philip Ingall, of St Peter's Road, Chellaston, is a member of the Mast Action Committee, a group protesting against planned mast sites in the area.
He said: "T-mobile worked with residents in a constructive and positive way to find a more suitable area for the mast. It's just a shame other mobile phone companies don't do the same thing."
A T-Mobile spokesman said he was unable to confirm other possible locations for the mast. He said: "All we can say at the moment is that we are in consultation with the council and residents and we are reviewing the options available to us."
At a council cabinet meeting on Wednesday, councillors unanimously voted to confront the Government over the proliferation of mobile phone masts in Derby after Chellaston councillors, Paul Willitts and Ron LIversedge, claimed that parts of the city were "almost under siege" by phone masts.
Derbyshire Evening Telegraph
09:30 - 17 September 2005
People power has ensured a third set of plans to install a mobile phone mast in Shelton Lock have been withdrawn.
The latest application to install an 11.7m mast in Chellaston Road came in December after residents and Derby City Council planners quashed two previous proposals.
But next Wednesday, residents attending an Area Panel 2 meeting, which consists of the council wards of Alvaston, Boulton, Chellaston and Sinfin, will be told that T-Mobile has withdrawn the plans again.
The first proposal was made by T-Mobile in October 2003 to install an 11m mast on a grass verge outside the Shelton Lock Fish Bar, at the junction of Chellaston Road and Weston Park Avenue.
About 400 residents signed a petition and, in March 2004, the plans were withdrawn.
The company then submitted new plans for a mast in front of the Esso garage in Chellaston Road - about 200 metres from the original site.
Another petition was submitted to the council and the proposal was rejected by planners in June 2004 after they said it would obstruct the pavement and the visibility of drivers.
A formal application does not have to be submitted to the council for masts under 15 metres, but planners can reject proposals if the site is inappropriate, obstructs the pavement or the visibility of drivers.
The latest plans for a site on Chellaston Road, which have now been withdrawn, would have been near the filling station and would have included an equipment cabin in Acorn Close. Residents again set up a petition collecting more than 250 signatures.
Phil Day, of Chellaston Road, said: "At the moment it seems the residents are winning the battle against T-Mobile. But we don't know what alternative locations the company is considering. We don't want to push it into other people's back gardens."
Andreas Symeou, of Shelton Lock Fish Bar, is delighted with the company's decision.
He said: "It shows that if the community gets together then sometimes you can beat the big companies."
Philip Ingall, of St Peter's Road, Chellaston, is a member of the Mast Action Committee, a group protesting against planned mast sites in the area.
He said: "T-mobile worked with residents in a constructive and positive way to find a more suitable area for the mast. It's just a shame other mobile phone companies don't do the same thing."
A T-Mobile spokesman said he was unable to confirm other possible locations for the mast. He said: "All we can say at the moment is that we are in consultation with the council and residents and we are reviewing the options available to us."
At a council cabinet meeting on Wednesday, councillors unanimously voted to confront the Government over the proliferation of mobile phone masts in Derby after Chellaston councillors, Paul Willitts and Ron LIversedge, claimed that parts of the city were "almost under siege" by phone masts.
Starmail - 18. Sep, 16:04
