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Cable and Wireless Isle of Man Limited (C & W) have recently been awarded an Isle of Man (IOM) Mobile Operators License issued by the Island's Communications Commission to provide a mobile phone network and service to the Island's inhabitants and visitors. This service will compete with the incumbent operator (Manx Telecom) and will allow greater choice and competition for the consumers.
The Mobile phone network will consist of a number of sites that have a combination of equipment, such as panel antenna that provide coverage in the vicinity and also transmission dishes that link sites together and with others in the wider network to provide continuous coverage throughout the Island.
Where possible C&W will endeavour to install their equipment on existing infrastructure or radio transmitters. The aim always is to minimise the visual impact of providing this new mobile phone network.
Where this is not possible and it is necessary to introduce additional telecommunications infrastructure onto the Island this supporting statement will justify both why the infrastructure is required and demonstrate that the best possible available site has been identified keeping visual amenity as a priority at all times.
It will also help to explain the decisions which led to the specific location being chosen and what alternatives were discounted.
A variety of supporting information may be included with each application but ultimately the C&W aim is to minimise the number of new structures and the overall visual impact of the network whilst providing sufficient signal strength to provide coverage for customers to take advantage of the C&W services that will become available.
The proposed development will consist of the mounting of 3 no. panel antennas and 2 no. 600mm diameter dishes on the roof-level plant room, and the placement of 2 no. equipment cabinets on the lower level roof against the plant room wall. No specific colours (other than standard original manufacturer greys) have been specified at this stage, but this can be controlled by condition if appropriate.
For further details, please refer to the general arrangement plans that accompany this application.
The site is the roof of the Isle of Man Post Authority building on Circular Road. The building is approximately 21m high to the upper roof level, and 16.4m high at the lower roof level. The building is surrounded by other buildings of similar height, and is located in the heart of the Financial and Commercial district of Central Douglas. Due to the higher ground height of Circular Road compared to adjacent streets and roads means the post office building provides an excellent elevated position from which near-360° panoramic views are possible. As a result, the building presents itself as a prime choice for locating telecommunication equipment.
Within this search area, there are numerous possibilities in terms of suitable rooftop options. However, one must be realistic in terms of which buildings will be suitable for such installations, from both structural and practical perspectives.
The obvious and original choice of site in this vicinity was to share the roof space of Victory
House (Prospect Hill) with Manx Telecom who have an existing installation there. However, we have received written confirmation from the owners that additional equipment on the roof will not be permitted, and therefore this option has been discounted.
Another choice was St Georges Court off Upper Church Street which offers a large roof area to develop. However, the access to the roof is via a small window opening which would not be suitable for ongoing access and maintenance. To make this site work, an extensive external steel ladder system or staircase would be required, which would be significantly more visually obtrusive. As a result, this option was not considered to be the optimum choice.
The Post Office building was chosen as prime option for several reasons, which include:
We have met on several occasions with Ian Brooks to discuss various proposals, including this site. Mr Brooks has accepted the need for sites such as this and was supportive of choosing a location with the least visual impact. We very much believe this rooftop option complies with this strategy. Mr Brooks proposed that that merits of the scheme could be considered in more detail upon receipt of the formal planning application and drawings.
At the request of the planning officer, we have also included additional elevation plans in order to demonstrate the appearance of the site from the north west and south west, as well as the south east.
The existing Manx Telecom installation on Victory House would appear to be the only other mobile telecommunication site in the area. We are not aware of any other planning history or application relevant to this application.
Cable and Wireless do not have any existing sites on the Isle of Man. In order to provide coverage to potential customers in the central Douglas area, a site is needed in this area. Where new sites are required, we are looking to colocate with existing Manx Telecom sites where the planning precedent has already been set. Where this is not possible, great care and attention has been employed to chose an alternative with the least visual impact – whilst offering optimum coverage and line-of-sight capabilities.
If this location is not supported, there will still be a need for site in this area, and we feel the very best alternative location has already been identified by this application. Without a site in this area, many residents, businesses, and tourists will not be able take advantage of having a choice of Mobile Operator the issuing of new licences was (in part) designed to accommodate.
The enclosed coverage plots demonstrate how this site will contribute to the Cable and Wireless network, and the extent of the coverage it is anticipated to provide. In addition to coverage, the site is also part of a network of sites that communicate by dish link. The links must have direct line-of-site to one another to operate, which this option provides.
In addition to the central, financial, and commercial areas of Douglas, this site will also provide important coverage to main roads in and around Douglas.
The location of the site has been carefully considered, to ensure the site has as little impact on visual amenity in the area as possible. The site chosen is, in our view, the best in the search area.
The existing building provides either screening or backdrop for the equipment cabinets and antennas depending on the direction of view, and its height means it is unlikely to be directly overlooked on the whole. We believe the addition of the proposed equipment will not have a significant impact on visual amenity in the area, as most buildings in the vicinity already have steelwork or roof level plant of varying descriptions and degrees in place. We are also conscious that the existing Manx Telecom rooftop site on Prospect Hill has already set the general precedent for this type of a site, and has significantly more equipment than our proposed installation.
Planning Scheme Development Plan Provisional Order, 1982:
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.
Draft Strategic Plan November 2004:
We have reviewed the draft strategic plan in order that we adhere to the requirements and directives contained therein wherever possible.
The following was particularly noted:
1.6.1 “where unusual matters arise, or where there is no Manx guidance, it will often be appropriate and helpful to have regard to legal judgements or advice published in the UK or the EU”.
In cases where there is no clear guidance we have followed the UK best practice as outlined in PPG8.
It was evident from the 6 main strategic aims looking at maintaining ‘Quality of Life’ then there must be a balance between economic progress in the pursuit of “manageable and sustainable growth” 2.3(2) and the need “to protect and improve the quality of the environment” 2.3(4)
This is further highlighted as follows:
3.3 (d) - “to protect the individual character of and identity of settlements and to identify and protect those green spaces in built areas which contribute positively to public amenity”.
3.4 (c) - “to safeguard and provide for the needs and aspirations of existing and new location dependant businesses”.
Within the transport and Communications section it states:
3.5 (h) – “to ensure that the island is well served by modern telecommunications without compromising the protection of our landscape”.
Finally within Transport Infrastructure and Utilities:
11.9.2 – “It is important that a balance be struck between the need for new evolving
telecommunications systems to satisfy residential and business demand and the impact that the necessary infrastructure will have on 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.
The inspector's comments were also viewed in relation to the draft plan.
Policies in EP1-3 set out protective policies for the countryside. Development which would have an adverse effect on the character and appearance of the landscape within the existing designated areas will not be permitted. In these areas the protection and conservation of the landscape will be the most important consideration. However development will be permitted where:
In all cases during the search and planning consultation we have endeavoured always to compromise our technical requirements with the need to reduce visual impact of the proposed development by best use of design and location.
We believe that the design and location have been carefully considered in this instance and we also believe we have demonstrated the importance of this site to give vital coverage. This therefore forms an important part of this 'national need' to provide the Isle of Man with a competitive mobile network.
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". Cable and Wireless believe the installation complies with the Islands Telecoms Policies above.
We consider in summary therefore;
a) There is a definite need for the site to provide important coverage to the residents, businesses, and tourists in the central Douglas area.
b) The siting and appearance has been carefully considered to provide the least visual impact possible as we are using the roof space of an existing building to mount and house the proposed equipment.
c) The visual amenity of the area shall not be significantly affected, as surrounding buildings already have roof-mounted equipment and steelwork in situ.
The design proposed represents both the optimum planning/environmental and technical solution in this instance. As such, we believe the development as proposed is in accordance with planning guidance as defined above.
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