Report overruled to allow phone mast near crèche

AN BÓRD Pleanála was under fire last night for overruling a local authority and giving the green light for a mobile phone mast close to a Traveller halting site and a crèche.

Furious residents on Cork’s northside will picket Ballyvolane Business Park tomorrow to highlight the situation.

The protest follows a decision by the planning appeals board to grant Vodafone Ireland permission to erect a 20-metre mobile phone mast, with three pairs of GSM antennae and two radio link dishes, in the business park.

The park already houses a 15-metre mobile phone mast 110 metres away from where the new mast will be built. The Spring Lane Traveller halting site and a crèche are nearby.

Vodafone said it was not possible to place its equipment on the existing mast because it is too low for the 2G service. However, Cork City Council refused planning permission.

Its planning report said Vodafone had not made a reasonable effort to co-locate their development with existing users, or to demonstrate that the mast would be of strategic importance.

It also cited Department of the Environment guidelines, issued in 1996, that the location of the mast close to houses would seriously injure the amenities of residential property.

Labour councillor Catherine Clancy said Bórd Pleanála has effectively rubbished the city’s development plan.

Socialist Party Cllr Mick Barry said the planned mast would be far too close to residential housing, a community crèche and a Traveller halting site for health concerns to be assuaged.

“Mobile phone technology benefits people in their day-to-day lives but they should not be situated so close to communities as Vodafone plans in this case,” he said.