Mobile mast opposed by local residents fails to secure planning permission

PROPOSALS for a mobile mast near to Lerwick Town Hall which angered local residents have been turned down by Shetland Islands Council planners.

Mobile operator O2 wanted to install the 17.5m mast at the top of Quendale Lane, which runs up the side of the old swimming pool car park, to improve network services in the area.

The council’s planning service, however, ruled that it was not in keeping with the characteristics of the Lerwick lanes conservation area – with the mast likely to “look and feel out of place”.

Residents of Gladstone Terrace opposed the plans and attended a meeting of the Lerwick Community Council last year to express their views.

Along with the mast, two dishes and five cabinets were also mooted at the base.

In its decision, the council’s planning service said: “The erection on a permanent basis of a 17.5m high telecommunications mast at Quendale Lane as proposed is not in keeping with the special characteristics of the Lerwick Lanes Conservation Area.

“The mast would look and feel out of place when compared and considered with the character of the area of the lanes, which are winding and narrow down to Commercial Street and are recognised as predominantly residential.”

The mast was also due to act as a replacement for the existing one sited at Lerwick Police Station, but a failure to reach agreement on its decommissioning meant that it would have also resulted in “cumulative visual effects”, planning staff added.