PLANS to put up a telecoms mast the height of a nine-storey building near the Black Mountains’ Hay Bluff and Offa’s Dyke Path have been allowed following an appeal.

Describing itself as “the UK’s leading mobile infrastructure services company”, Berkshire-based Cornerstone applied to Herefordshire Council planners in May 2023 to put up the 30-metre radio base station at Coed Major farm, Cusop Dingle, yards from the Welsh border and the boundary of the Beacon Beacons National Park, in order to boost 4G coverage in the area.

The “slimline lattice tower” was to have three antennas, two dishes and base cabinets, and would be surrounded by a 1.8-metre-high fence.

Herefordshire Council refused the application, which was made under so-called permitted development rights, in July last year, due to the “particular sensitivity” of its landscape setting beside the Black Mountains (of which Hay Bluff is the northern extremity).

The decision said: “Being near the Black Mountains Site of Special Scientific Interest and Brecon Beacons National Park, and visibility from popular footpaths such as Offa’s Dyke, the proposed siting and appearance of the mast is not considered to be acceptable, resulting in harm to the visual appearance of the landscape character.”

Planning officer Elsie Morgan judged its unsightliness was “not outweighed by the social and economic benefits of enhanced coverage in this locality”.

But Cornerstone appealed against the refusal, and now government-appointed planning inspector Emma Worley has sided with the company to overturn the council’s decision.

She acknowledged that, being “significantly taller” than nearby trees, the mast “would appear as an anomalous utilitarian feature… visible from several different vantage points in the locality”.

But she was persuaded that Cornerstone “has demonstrated that there are no clear alternatives which would be preferable, and that the site is the least harmful location available to deliver improved coverage within the required area”.

The planning inspector agreed that the mast “would enhance the enjoyment of the landscape through the provision of a high quality, reliable 4G network which will encourage visitors to the area and highlights the practical benefits of access to maps on mobile phones and the emergency services, should the need arise.” 

And she ruled that this outweighed the mast’s impact on the nearby protected landscape.