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TELECOMMUNICATIONS INSTALLATION
FOR
CABLE & WIRELESS ISLE OF MAN LIMITED
AT
Ellerslie Farm
Field No 321028
B35 School Lane
Crosby
Isle of Man
SUPPORTING STATEMENT
DATE: 15th December 2006
PREPARED BY:
CH2M HILL
CH2MHILL
CABLE & WIRELESS ISLE OF MAN REF: 114 - Ellerslie Farm CABLE & WIRELESS
Cable and Wireless Isle of Man Limited (C & W) have recently been awarded an Isle of Man (IOM) Mobile Operators License issued by the Island's Communications Commission to provide a mobile phone network and service to the Island's inhabitants and visitors. This service will compete with the incumbent operator (Manx Telecom) and will allow greater choice and competition for the consumers.
The Mobile phone network will consist of a number of sites that have a combination of equipment, such as panel antenna that provide coverage in the vicinity and also transmission dishes that link sites together and with others in the wider network to provide continuous coverage throughout the Island.
Where possible C&W will endeavour to install their equipment on existing infrastructure or radio transmitters. The aim always is to minimise the visual impact of providing this new mobile phone network.
Where this is not possible and it is necessary to introduce additional telecommunications infrastructure onto the Island this supporting statement will justify, both why the infrastructure is required and demonstrates that the best possible available site has been identified keeping visual amenity as a priority at all times.
It will also help to explain the decisions which led to the specific location being chosen and what alternatives were discounted.
A variety of supporting information may be included with each application but ultimately the C&W aim is to minimise the number of new structures and the overall visual impact of the network whilst providing sufficient signal strength to provide coverage for customers to take advantage of the C&W services that will become available.
The proposed development will consist of an 8 m monopole mast painted brown, inclusive with a 1 no. tri sector antenna within a brown GRP shroud and 1 no. 300mm diameter dishes placed upon it. There will also be 2 no. equipment cabinets, and 1 no. electricity meter cabinet located at ground level.
The mast and equipment cabinets shall be enclosed by a 1.25m high stock-proof fence.
Full details can be seen on the General Arrangement Drawings that accompany this application.
The proposed development site is to be located at the edge of a field adjacent to the Old Church Road, south of Crosby.
The location of the site has been strategically considered to provide significant coverage along the A1 between Glen Vine and Greeba. It also covers the important residential areas within Crosby and Glen Vine.
Whilst the site provides good coverage to the target area it has also been chosen from a visual amenity perspective as it is located on reasonably high ground which will allow us to install a relatively low level structure on which to place the antenna.
Within this search area, there are no existing dedicated telecom sites or suitable existing structures on which to mount the antennas
There is a relatively small area that will allow us to get coverage to the desired area.
One discounted option is the Department of Transports Ellerslie Depot. Due to the ground level height being significantly lower. The cell planner predicts that to get similar coverage we would require a 40 metre structure to hold the antennas. This would be significantly more visually obtrusive than an 8m tower.
As a result, we feel the best choice of site location for a new mast would be in the chosen location which is placed carefully on the rise of the hill in order that it does not stick above the skyline from the majority of viewpoints, especially from along the A1.
We have met on several occasions with Ian Brooks to discuss various proposals, including this site. Mr Brooks has accepted the need for sites such as this and was supportive of choosing a location with least visual impact. He said that the merits of the scheme can be considered in more detail upon submission of the formal planning application and drawings.
At the request of the planning officer, we have included an additional elevation plan in order to demonstrate the appearance of the site from the South East as well as the North East.
We are not aware of any planning history in relation to telecommunications in this area.
Cable and Wireless do not have any existing sites on the Isle of Man. In order to provide coverage to potential customers in and around the Glen Vine and Crosby areas a site is needed in this location.
If this location is not supported, there will still be a need for site in this area, and we feel the very best position has already been identified by way of this application. Without a site in this area, many residents, businesses, and tourists will not be able take advantage of having a choice of Mobile Operator the issuing of new licences was (in part) designed to accommodate.
The accompanying coverage plots provide good evidence of what coverage this site provides. In particular it provides essential coverage to Glen Vine, Crosby and the busy A1 road that runs through them.
The location of the site has been carefully considered so as to minimise its visual impact.
As mentioned in Section 4 we have located the structure on the rise of a hill which gives us the ability to get the required coverage to the target area whilst using the backdrop of the hill to ensure that from the majority of views the structure is not raised above the skyline.
The design of the structure has also been made to resemble a power pole. This again limits visual impact as the hillside is surrounded by many similar looking structures. We have located it in a line of power poles which runs down the side of the field and placed this at the end of that line equidistant to the other poles.
The height of the structure has also been kept in line with the surrounding structures and they all range from 8 to 10 metres. Even though our coverage has been compromised to a degree from this we feel it will provide a better looking design. In a similar manner we have used a tri-sector antenna to allow us to make the structure a similar diameter to the surrounding structures (circa 300mm). Again the principle of compromising on the performance of coverage to ensure a sensitive design suitable with the surrounding landscape.
The views of the nearest building a language school has also been considered and there is good screening by trees to the site. No other buildings have a prominent view.
The positioning of the site in this location is critical to ensure both continuous coverage to the main roads, to residential areas, and local businesses, and to maintain line-of-sight between it and the adjacent planned sites for the dish links.
Planning Scheme Development Plan Provisional Order, 1982:
The proposed site does not have a specific or restrictive designation under the 1982 Development Plan, nor does it fall within an area of restricted building height due to Air Safety.
Draft Strategic Plan, November 2004:
We have reviewed the draft strategic plan in order that we adhere to the requirements and directives contained therein wherever possible.
The following was particularly noted:
1.6.1 “where unusual matters arise, or where there is no Manx guidance, it will often be appropriate and helpful to have regard to legal judgements or advice published in the UK or the EU”.
In cases where there is no clear guidance we have followed the UK best practice as outlined in PPG8.
It was evident from the 6 main strategic aims looking at maintaining ‘Quality of Life’ then there must be a balance between economic progress in the pursuit of “manageable and sustainable growth” 2.3(2) and the need “to protect and improve the quality of the environment” 2.3(4)
This is further highlighted as follows:
3.3 (d) - “to protect the individual character of and identity of settlements and to identify and protect those green spaces in built areas which contribute positively to public amenity”.
3.4 (c) - “to safeguard and provide for the needs and aspirations of existing and new location dependant businesses”.
Within the transport and Communications section it states:
3.5 (h) – “to ensure that the island is well served by modern telecommunications without compromising the protection of our landscape”.
Finally within Transport Infrastructure and Utilities:
11.9.2 – “It is important that a balance be struck between the need for new evolving telecommunications systems to satisfy residential and business demand and the impact that the necessary infrastructure will have on the environment. Measures which may help to achieve a satisfactory balance will include a presumption against visually intrusive masts in
sensitive landscapes, the encouragement of mast sharing by different operators and the removal of redundant infrastructure. Exceptions to this policy would need to demonstrate a strategic national need which cannot be otherwise secured by mast sharing or alternative locations.
The inspector's comments were also viewed in relation to the draft plan.
Policies in EP1-3 set out protective policies for the countryside. Development which would have an adverse effect on the character and appearance of the landscape within the existing designated areas will not be permitted. In these areas the protection and conservation of the landscape will be the most important consideration. However development will be permitted where:
In all cases during the search and planning consultation we have endeavoured always to compromise our technical requirements with the need to reduce visual impact of the proposed development by best use of design and location.
We believe that the design and location have been carefully considered in this instance and we also believe we have demonstrated the importance of this site to give vital coverage. This therefore forms an important part of this 'national need' to provide the Isle of Man with a competitive mobile network.
This site has been designed in accordance with the current mainland UK Cellular operators guidance for both Occupational & Public ICNIRP compliance. Our design consultants are satisfied that this site design complies with the above guidelines and therefore a signed ICNIRP certificate is enclosed with this application.
1) Isle of Man Government Statutory Boards, Offices & Agencies Plans 2006-2009. Volume 3.
Page 25, under Communications Commission Aims & Objectives Section:
Objective: Social inclusion – To enhance access to services for the whole population:
"We will enforce universal service obligations by telecoms operators with significant market power. They must provide telephone services throughout the Island, ...".
To summarise, we consider that this is the optimum location and design for our proposed site.
The coverage plots help to demonstrate that there is a definite need for the site both as a vital link site to adjacent cells and providing important coverage to the A1 and towns of Crosby and Glen Vine.
The siting and appearance has been carefully considered to provide the least visual impact possible.
Therefore the design proposed represents both the optimum planning/environmental and technical solution in this instance. As such, we believe the development as proposed is in accordance with planning guidance as defined above.
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