‘Taller phone masts key for rural Wales’ – Tories
WELSH Conservatives are urging the Welsh Government to change planning laws to enable the building of higher telecommunications masts in Wales.
They are raising the issue at the Royal Welsh Agricultural Show in Builth Wells, which begins today and runs until Thursday.
The annual show, the largest of its kind in Europe, is, they said, a fantastic showcase of the very best that rural Wales has to offer and yet it also serves as an opportunity to highlight some of the key issues faced by rural communities.
Poor mobile coverage is one of the key challenges in Wales and it must be addressed to help ensure that rural Wales can thrive and prosper going forward.
Currently, the maximum height restriction for communication masts in Wales is 50ft, whereas in England the maximum permitted height is 82ft.
Bringing the maximum height restrictions in Wales in line with that of England would help significantly increase mobile coverage across Wales.
Commenting from the Royal Welsh Show, the interim leader of the Welsh Conservative Assembly group Paul Davies said: “Wales continues to lag behind the rest of the UK when it comes to the quality of mobile signal, and particularly so in our rural communities.
“Historically, the focus has been predominantly on improving the speed of connections but many hardworking people in Welsh communities are being held back by the issue of reliability.
“The Welsh Government needs to take urgent action to adjust current planning laws in order to enable the building of masts that can help ‘change the game’ in relation to 4G and 5G coverage across the country.
“Without much-needed action in this area, Wales will continue to drastically lag behind other parts of the UK and Welsh businesses and communities will continue to miss out on the service provision that they desperately need.”
A Welsh Government spokesman said: “We have developed an action plan to improve mobile phone connectivity in Wales, including looking at planning issues and consulting on any proposed changes.
“Although mobile connectivity is the responsibility of the UK Government, we are looking at the powers we have that could help improve the service in Wales.
“Our plan also sets out how we will encourage investment in infrastructure, promote innovation and work with the mobile phone industry and regulator to improve connectivity.”