Plans to build a tall 5G mast in Caversham have been rejected by the council.
Vodafone applied to install the 17.5m high telecommunication pole in place of the current 12.5m pole on Henley Road in Caversham but the plans were rejected last week.
Reading Borough Council (RBC) officers said the public benefits of upgrading the infrastructure are outweighed by the visual harm due to its height and the impact on nearby trees.
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Officers said: “The public benefits of 5G technology and the upgrading of telecommunications infrastructure is noted and has been taken into account when determining the application.
“However, in this particular instance it is not considered that these benefits would outweigh the harm identified in terms of visual amenity or impact on heritage assets and the impact the proposal would have on nearby trees.”
They said the monopole would, due to its height, detract from the visual amenity and appearance of the surrounding area, including the appearance of the curtilage of the nearby Listed Queen Anne’s School.
Officers also said there was a lack of detail on potential alternative sites for the development, and so the developer had not justified that this location would be the least visually intrusive, and the application failed to demonstrate the plans would not detrimentally impact on nearby trees.
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