Mobile phone mast turned down by council but still goes up!

Mobile phone operator O2 has erected a phone mast close to the Kings Road Primary School, on the corner of Kings Road and Dixon Avenue. This is despite Chelmsford Borough Council consistently refusing it planning permission.

The mast appeared last week and has sparked renewed protest by parents, residents and local Councillors, and the consideration of legal action by the Council.

Lib Dem Councillor for Marconi Jude Deakin said, "This is outrageous. The Council refused permission and O2 is simply ignoring that. We cannot have big business steam-rolling over the Council and the legitimate views of local residents."

Briefing Councillors at the end of last week, a planning officer said:- "We have had extensive correspondence with O2's planning agents and subsequently with their advisers since July 2008.

"We have maintained our position that the application has been refused, that the decision was duly notified to them in good time, and [that being so], they may not lawfully install the mast.... We will discuss our options with the Council's legal officers to decide what action to take."

Lib Dem Councillor for Patching Hall, Tom Smith Hughes commented:

"I am encouraging the Council to take enforcement action but urge O2 not to delay and simply to remove this seemingly unlawful eyesore. One way or another we will campaign for it to come back down!"

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