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RECEIVED ON
DEPT. OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND THE ENVIRONMENTAL
AT
Castletown MEA Malew Road Castletown Isle of Man IM9 4EA
DATE: 30th November 2006
PREPARED BY:
CH2M HILL
CH2MHILL
CABLE & WIRELESS ISLE OF MAN REF: 71 – Castletown MEA 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 demonstrate 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 a new 15m galvanised steel Monopole painted matt brown with 3 panel antennas mounted at the top and also painted in brown. There will also be a two transmission dishes attached of 300mm in diameter. The dishes will also be coloured brown.
The equipment cabinets are located at ground level which will be relatively small scale with a compound surrounding and protecting the site.
See attached General Arrangement drawings.
The proposed development site is to be located within the grounds of the Manx Electric Authority (MEA) Substation off Malew Road to the North West edge of Castletown.
On the Site is an existing 10m monopole with a small omni antenna placed upon it. This will be removed and the proposed new structure placed in the same position.
The location of the structure has been carefully considered so the monopole will be screened
by the backdrop of the trees immediately to the South East of the site. The cabinets are also well screened by being placed adjacent to a much larger MEA equipment room.
The site is being used to provide coverage to Castletown which is a difficult area to cover as there are no existing Telecoms structures and no available rooftops to provide the height required to cover central Castletown.
Castletown itself has a significant amount of historic buildings and the visual amenity must be carefully considered in order that it be protected as much as possible. Buildings we investigated but discounted in central Castletown include the Canada Life Building on Bank St and The George Hotel. Both were discounted due to the fact their structures were not capable of holding telecoms equipment; also technically they were unable to provide good enough coverage. The fire station may have provided some localised coverage but it position is very visible and the chief fire officer would not allow us to use the structure.
The only Greenfield Central location we felt may be able to offer coverage without compromising visual amenity was the Builders Yard off Athol Terrace. The Yard owner however confirmed they were not interested in our proposals.
We therefore decided to look for sites on the edge of the town to 'look in' to the area that required coverage. The proposed location is felt to be a good compromise by locating away from the main areas of residential property where there is likely to be a more negative effect from a visual perspective.
Another discounted option is the Football club itself whose ground is 30 meters from the site. This site is felt not to offer as much screening and has more open views from the Malew Road and therefore not as good visually.
We have met on several occasions with Ian Brooks to discuss various proposals including this site.
Mr Brooks has accepted the fact that it is not possible to always use existing infrastructure and that new build sites such as this will be required. He was supportive of choosing a location with as little visual impact as possible. He said that the merits of this particular scheme can be viewed in more detail with a formal application and drawings.
An extra elevation was requested by the planner and this has been included in the general arrangement drawings attached.
We are not aware of any history of other telecoms applications in the immediate vicinity. Clearly there is a small existing installation on a telegraph pole which may or may not have required planning approval.
Please see the plots provided. This site covers the important commercial and residential and tourist areas of Castletown. The castle is recognised to be one of the finest examples in the UK and attracts many visitors. There is a need to get to at least 15m in height with the antennas at the top to penetrate into the required area.
This site will effectively cover this relatively densely populated area however its coverage weakens towards the East of the town as expected.
The location of the structure has been carefully considered. As mentioned in section 4 we decided to locate outside the main area of coverage and look in to the town due to the fact that we felt there were no suitable locations in the centre of the town.
This particular site benefits from having excellent tree screening between itself and the nearest house which is approximately 100m away.
It also has an existing smaller telecoms structure which can be replaced which again reduces the physical changes as the local residents already see a telecoms structure on the site.
The monopole itself will also be painted in a non reflective matt brown to reduce the impact visually. The antennas are to be coloured the same as the pole. The dishes will also be painted to provide as 'clean' a site as possible.
An existing MEA equipment room immediately to the adjacent our small ground based cabinets also screens the view of these cabinets effectively.
Views from other directions are also considered good with no direct views from residential properties and with a backdrop of the football club which has numerous floodlights which make the monopole not appear out of place.
As with the whole of this area the site is designated as 'high landscape value' under the 1982 Development Plan. 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 a 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 operator’s 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,”
We consider in summary therefore a) There is a definite need for the site to provide important coverage to the centre of Castletown. b) The siting and appearance has been carefully considered to provide the least visual impact as possible.
The design proposed represents both the optimum planning/environmental and technical solution in this instance. As such the development as proposed is in accordance with planning guidance as defined above
Site 71 provides coverage for Castletown. Antenna height of 15m is required due to terrain elevation and building heights in Castletown.
Cable & Wireless Isle of Man Ltd declares that the proposed equipment and installation as detailed in the attached planning at:
Site 71, Castletown MEA, Castletown MEA, Malew Road, Castletown, IM9 4EA.
NGR: 226189, 468241
Is designed to be in full compliance with the requirements of the radio frequency (RF) public exposure guidelines of the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation (ICNIRP), as expressed in EU Council recommendation of 12 July 1999 * "on the limitation of exposure of the general public to electromagnetic fields (0 Hz to 300 GHz)".
Date: 01/12/06 Signed: Nigel Granger Name & Position: Nigel Granger / Designer
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