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AT
Oatlands Estate Oatlands Quarry B24 Santon IM1 5AS
DATE: 4th December 2006
PREPARED BY:
CH2M HILL
CABLE & WIRELESS ISLE OF MAN REF: 86- Oatlands Estate CABLE & WIRELESS
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 a new 15m galvanised steel Monopole painted matt brown with 3 panel antennas mounted on top and painted in a brown. There will also be a two transmission dishes one of 600mm and one of 300mm in diameter placed upon it. The dishes will also be coloured brown.
The equipment cabinets are located at ground level which will be relatively small scale with a compound surrounding and protecting the site.
See attached General Arrangement drawings.
The proposed development site is to be located close to industrial buildings on the Oatlands industrial Estate. This is a small industrial site next to a Cement Aggregates plant.
The location of the structure has been carefully considered so the monopole will be screened by the backdrop of the industrial units and adjacent to trees some of which are over 12m in height. This, we believe, effectively screens the new structure which will have little effect on
visual amenity.
The site is being used to cover the A25 and A5, both busy roads between Douglas and the airport / Castletown. The surrounding area is predominantly agricultural in use and there are few natural locations where a monopole of this type can be effectively screened. There are no existing masts or rooftops capable of holding the equipment required in the search location.
There were two sites considered as ‘best’ options without having to build the new structure on Farmland. These were the Meary Veg Water Treatment works and Oatlands Estate.
The Oatlands Estate site provided better coverage from a 15m tower and was felt to be the best site visually as well. The only owner in the vicinity with a view of the location is the site provider who we will be agreeing to locate with at Oatlands Farm.
We do not feel that any other building / site location can offer us a better opportunity to provide effective coverage.
We have met on several occasions with Ian Brooks to discuss various proposals including this site.
Mr Brooks has accepted the fact that it is not possible to always use existing infrastructure and that new build sites such as this will be required. He was supportive of choosing a location with as little visual impact as possible. He said that the merits of this particular scheme can be viewed in more detail with a formal application and drawings.
An extra elevation was requested by the planner and this has been included in the general arrangement drawings attached.
The site is adjacent to an old quarry. A recent planning approval we understand has been given for an industrial storage unit immediately adjacent to this proposed location.
We are not aware of any other telecoms applications in the immediate vicinity.
Please see the plots provided. This site provides coverage to an area around the A25 and A5 which are important commuter and tourist routes between Douglas and the airport. There is a need to get to at least 13.5 m in height with the antennas on top to penetrate into the required area and along a sufficient stretch of the A25 and A5 road to maintain continual coverage.
The location of the structure has been carefully considered so the monopole will be screened by the backdrop of the industrial units and adjacent to trees some of which are over 12m in height this we believe effectively screens the new structure which will have little effect to visual amenity.
To add to the effectiveness of the screening we are painting the monopole structure antennas and dishes brown in order to minimise further the visual impact.
Outside the immediate industrial Estate the area is predominantly agricultural in nature with little residential housing in the proximity. It is therefore felt that the visual amenity of the area will not be diminished due to this structure being in place.
As with the whole of this area the site is designated as ‘high landscape value’ under the 1982 Development Plan. 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 a 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 operators 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, "
We consider in summary therefore a) There is a definite need for the site to provide important coverage along the A25 and A5. b) The siting and appearance has been carefully considered to provide the least visual impact possible.
The design proposed represents both the optimum planning/environmental and technical solution in this instance. As such the development as proposed is in accordance with planning guidance as defined above.
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