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Former Coastguard Station Scarlett Point Castletown Isle of Man
Planning Application Supporting Statement
DATE: 18th July 2011
PREPARED BY:
Paul Hadfield Cable & Wireless
Cable & Wireless IOM REF: Scarlett Point
Page 1
Cable & Wireless Communications Second Floor, 14, Athol Street, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM1 1JA T +44 (0)1624 692200 www.surecw.com
Cable & Wireless Isle of Man Limited Represented in the list of Man with Company Registrarsed on 2046219 SAT Registration No. 0021845198 Directors: P. A. Darke, M. Heethorn D G Selling CBE C.P. 12nd SMM, C.A. Smith, A. Sridhar Registered office: PO Box 166, 4th Floor, One Central Road, Douglas, Isle of Man, MP99 3NZ
As a licensed Mobile operator on the Isle of Man, Cable and Wireless (C\&W) loM Limited are continually striving to deliver a high quality mobile experience for all our customers.
We have completed, or work is underway on, building the telecommunications sites identified in our initial build plan. Our network development is now moving into a new phase where we are looking to add additional mobile sites to fill our known coverage gaps.
The C\&W mobile Radio Access Network (RAN) consists of a number of sites that have a combination of equipment, such as panel antennas that provide the mobile coverage and transmission dishes that connect the site back in to the wider telecommunications network.
C\&W will endeavour, whenever possible, to install our equipment on existing infrastructure or radio transmitters. Where this is not possible and it is necessary to introduce the additional telecommunications infrastructure onto the Island this supporting statement will justify, both why the infrastructure is required and demonstrates that the best possible available site has been identified, keeping visual amenity as a priority at all times. The aim is always to minimise the visual impact of our developing radio network.
It will also help to explain the decisions which led to the specific location being chosen and what alternatives were discounted.
The proposed development consists of one antenna panel and small microwave transmission dish mounted on the rear of the former Coastguard tower at Scarlett point. The installation will not rise above the existing building height and will be blended to the background colour of the tower.
The supporting Nokia Flexi Base Station (size of a desktop PC) will be wall mounted inside the tower.
The proposed telecommunication installation is at the former Coastguard tower at Scarlett Point, Castletown. The building is currently used by amateur radio enthusiasts who already have a range of radio equipment and antennas installed around the building. See www.scarlettpoint.com for more information on the amateur radio activities.
As shown in the site drawings the site is surrounded by coastline and farmland.
An installation on this building is an excellent location to improve mobile phone coverage in the South West area of Castletown; which is a known poor coverage area. The proposed installation would also have limited visual impact both from the coastal footpath and when looking at the tower from Castletown.
C\&W has two existing telecommunication sites to the North of Castletown however they struggle to penetrate the old stone buildings in the town centre and reach the residential areas to the South West.
The target area for this proposed installation is Queens Street, Scarlett Road and Farant's Way all of which have poor or no mobile coverage. In addition to these existing residential areas there is also the new development at Knock Rushen which is still under construction.
As part of our selection process to find a new telecommunications site that could improve mobile coverage in this South West area of Castletown we investigated and ruled out the following sites:
As a result of our extensive planning process we believe that a single antenna panel on this former Coastguard Tower is the ideal choice for a site to be located.
This proposal has been discussed with Mr lan Brooks at the planning department.
This is our first planning application for this proposed site.
There is a need for development as this proposed telecommunications installation will fill mobile coverage gaps and generally improve indoor coverage for residential and commercial users on the Westerly side of Castletown.
A secondary reason for development is that as mobile technology has developed our customers are demanding increased coverage levels so they can fully benefit from new services such as High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) also known as Mobile Broadband.
The proposed installation on the former Coastguard Tower at Scarlett is an excellent site in relation to our target area whilst having little visual impact to the area.
The image below shows the existing C&W mobile coverage in the Castletown area. The darker orange lines in the bottom left of the map indicate poor outdoor coverage and little or no indoor coverage.
As a Mobile network provider we are constantly getting requests from our existing client base to improve coverage in the part of Castletown.
In selecting this site the utmost care has been taken to reduce the visual impact in a beautiful costal area. This proposed installation will have little visual impact when walking along the coast path or when viewing the tower from in land.
The proposed site does not have a specific or restrictive designation under the 1982 Development Plan, nor does it fall within an area of restricted building height due to Air Safety.
This site has been designed in accordance with the current mainland UK Cellular operator's guidance for both Occupational \& Public ICNIRP compliance. Our design consultants are satisfied that this site design complies with the above guidelines and therefore a signed ICNIRP certificate is enclosed with this application.
1) Isle of Man Government Statutory Boards, Offices \& Agencies Plans 2006-2009. Volume 3.
Page 25 under Communications Commission Aims \& Objectives Section: Objective: Social inclusion - to enhance access to services for the whole population: "We will enforce universal service obligations by telecoms operators with significant market power. They must provide telephone services throughout the Island," 2) Isle of Man Government Statutory Boards< Offices \& Agencies Plans 2005-2008. Volume 3 Page 20, under Communications Commission Aims \& Objectives
Section. Objective; The built Environment -, to reduce the visual impact of telecommunications and radio infrastructure on the Island's landscape. "We will encourage increased mast sharing by broadcasters, under the Radio Masts Regulation Act Limitations". 3) The Town and Country Planning Act 1999.
Page 101"A balance must be struck between the need for new, evolving communications systems to satisfy residential and business demand and the impact that the necessary infrastructure will have upon the environment. Measures which may help to achieve a satisfactory balance will include a presumption against visually intrusive masts in sensitive landscapes, the encouragement of mast sharing by different operators, and the removal of redundant infrastructure. Exceptions to this policy would need to demonstrate a strategic national need, which cannot be otherwise secured by mast sharing or alternative locations."
Cable and Wireless believe the installation complies with the Islands Policies above.
We consider this proposed installation at the former Scarlett Coastguard tower as the optimum location and design for achieving our aim of filling a coverage gap whilst having little visual impact to the existing structure or local area.
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