Apology as delay leads to go-ahead for 5G mast

A SENIOR councillor has apologised after a planning deadline was missed to stop a 5G mobile phone mast being erected in a Yorkshire city.

Sheffield Council received three applications from Cornerstone and Vodafone Ltd for phone masts at Greenhill Parkway, Archer Road and Rustlings Road.

From the date of the applications being submitted, the council had 56 days to decide whether to approve or refuse the plans.

But it failed to process the applications quickly enough, and they were given the go-ahead.

The next generation mobile technology has been at the centre of conspiracy theories, including false claims the masts have helped spread coronavirus.

The council said it planned to approve two of the masts, but that the application for Rustlings Road would have been rejected.

Coun Bob Johnson, the cabinet member for transport and sustainability, confirmed the council would be writing to residents to explain the situation.

He said: “The council apologises for this mistake but hope people will understand we are operating in extraordinary circumstances which have led to these oversights occurring. We understand residents’ depth of feeling about the location of these masts and we are sorry that they were not properly determined within the time limit.”

The leader of the Liberal Democrat group on the council, Coun Shaffaq Mohammed, who represents the Ecclesall ward, said the problems “added insult to injury” for those living on Rustlings Road, where residents were arrested in 2016 for protesting a tree felling. The felling was part of a £2.2bn highways contract between the council and contractors at Amey, which has carried out the work.

Coun Mohammed also said his party’s councillors felt “misled” after they were given reassurance that planning decisions were being dealt with during the coronavirus crisis.