|
 |
| MMO2 have put in an identical parallel TETRA application to Pembrokeshire County Council. | TETRA mast campaigners in Penally fear that a second application for the erection of one of the controversial masts in the village could be passed by Pembrokeshire County Council before a Planning Inspectorate appointed by the Welsh Assembly can hold a public local inquiry into the application this May.
Telecommunications company MMO2 appealed to the Welsh Assembly Planning Inspectorate after the county council failed to make a decision on their initial application to erect a TETRA mast in the village, made in June last year.
A public inquiry, that residents of Penally hoped would be sympathetic to their concerns over the siting of the mast, was scheduled for May 9th. This will either allow or dismiss MMO2’s application.
However, Penally residents have received confirmation that the inquiry will no longer take place on that date. No alternative date has yet been given.
Six months after the original Penally TETRA application the Welsh Assembly appointed Planning Inspectorate overruled the council’s planning refusal for a similar mast in Uzmaston. MMO2 were awarded costs, meaning a huge legal bill incurred in fighting the appeal has to be settled by the county council.
As soon as the ruling on Uzmaston was passed MMO2 submitted an identical, parallel application for the Penally mast. This could be decided as early as March, invalidating the need for a public inquiry in May.
Campaigner Kit Davis, co-founder of the Harriet Davis Seaside Holiday Trust, expressed her outrage at what she termed MMO2’s “dirty dealing”.
The plan to site the mast close to Wheelabout House, a specially adapted house for disabled children and their families, owned by the trust, has caused particular consternation.
Mrs Davis explained how it was not possible for parallel planning applications for the same development to be submitted in England. This is a legal peculiarity to Wales.
“[This is] a process which you cannot do in England,” added her husband John.
The county council confirmed that the powers available through the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 contains, which allow planning authorities to refuse to determine repeat or overlapping applications in certain circumstances, are not available in Wales.
“A fresh application means that all our initial letters of objection are no longer applicable,” continued Kit.
“We now have two weeks to go through the whole procedure again.”
Anti TETRA campaigners fear that a county council stung by the recent Uzmaston case will pass the application before the public inquiry can take place.
Pembrokeshire County Council said yesterday that no decision has been made to present the new MMO2 planning application to the council’s Planning Committee in March.
“No decision has been made as to whether the application will go to that meeting,” said a county council spokesman.
He went on to say that if the new planning application was passed by the county council it would be logical for MM02 to withdraw their appeal to the planning inspectorate.
|
