Widney Lane Mast
From Councillor Stuart Davis, the Chairman of the Planning Sub-Committee on 20 December 2007
Solihull’s Planning Sub-Committee has considered legal advice about the circumstances relating to the erection of a phone mast on Widney Lane.
In September, T-Mobile erected a phone mast on Widney Lane despite Planning Sub-Committee’s refusal of its application. The Council carried out an investigation and found that the mast was lawful because its decision had not reached T-Mobile within the 56 days that is required under what is known as ‘Prior Approval.’
The Council sought legal advice from a specialist barrister about whether it could take any further action.
Last night, (Wednesday 19th December), the Planning Sub-Committee heard the outcome of this advice:
- Although the Council had followed the Code of Good Practice for dealing with planning applications, and the application submitted by T-Mobile had fallen short of the standards set out in this code, the technical position is that because the decision to refuse the application was given outside the 56 day period the mast has permission and the Council can not take any enforcement action.
- The prior approval regime is complex and can create difficulties for councils, with errors and problems arising in the best managed organisations, and the situation the Council found itself in was by no means unique. There had been no systematic failure or carelessness in the way the Council handled the application.
The Sub-Committee considered that the state of the law in relation to prior approval applications was unsatisfactory and many other authorities had encountered similar difficulties in its application.
The Council has received some complaints about the Widney Lane mast and these will be dealt with through the Council’s complaints system.
Councillor Stuart Davis, the Chairman of the Planning Sub-Committee said: "We have considered the circumstances that lead to this situation and it is clear that we acted in good faith when dealing with this application but have made a mistake on this occasion. It is particularly disappointing that the operator had not followed the Code of Good Practice that has been agreed with all the operators. Recommendations to ensure that this doesn’t happen again have already been put into practice and we have written to the Department of Communities and Local Government seeking changes to telecommunications legislation."
Julie Turner 0121 704 6136
Email: juturner@solihull.gov.uk