20m radio mast given go-ahead despite residents’ objections
Kieran Molloy, Local Democracy Reporter
A 20m-tall telecommunications mast has been given the go-ahead despite objections that it will be an “overbearing visual intrusion” on nearby homes.
Cardiff Council planners have decided Cornerstone Telecommunications Infrastructure Limited does not require prior approval to install the mast off Llanedeyrn Road in Penylan.
The proposal attracted objections from residents as well as local councillor and Cardiff Liberal Democrat leader Cllr Rodney Berman, who argued the company should find a less prominent location further away from homes.
He told planners: “I think the applicants should look for a site that would be further away from residential properties where a mast would not be so visually incongruous.
“I would note that there is land around the Llanedeyrn interchange a little to the east of where Llanedeyrn Road connects with Circle Way which might provide a more suitable alternative location.”
Cllr Berman also pointed to a previous application for a telecommunications mast at a nearby site which was refused.
Other objections left on the application referenced the previous application by CK Hutchinson Networks Ltd.
One reads: “I consider that this would have an unacceptable adverse impact upon the outlook and visual amenity of adjoining residents, particularly given the council’s previous finding that the location and height of the earlier proposal adversely affected residential amenity.
“The council previously found that the location is highly prominent and that a telecommunications mast would be unacceptably incongruous within the surrounding residential area.
“The current proposal is substantially taller and remains in this prominent position.”
Another reads: “While I recognise that property value itself is generally treated as a non-material consideration, the severe loss of visual amenity and overbearing physical dominance directly affect the enjoyment, character, and saleability of the immediate residential land.”
Finally, another reads: “The proposed 20m mast and associated cabinets, by virtue of their excessive height, poor siting, and stark appearance, will result in an unacceptable, overbearing visual intrusion directly in front of single-storey residential bungalows.
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