Council refuses permission for 24-metre Glasson mast project
For the second time in less than a year, Westmeath County Council has refused planning permission for a large telecommunications mast in the Glasson area.
In November, On Tower Ireland Limited sought permission to erect a 24-metre telecommunications monopole at a site in Pearsonsbrook, about a mile from Glasson village.
The proposed site is situated just off a rural road and walkway known locally as 'The Sweep'.
The application attracted a number of objections from local residents, as well as representations from two local councillors, Aengus O'Rourke and Frankie Keena, both of whom expressed concerns about the suitability of the proposed site for the development.
In a decision on Friday last, January 3, Westmeath County Council refused permission for the project, saying it would represent an "unduly prominent and incongruous" feature in a "visually sensitive rural landscape".
The planning application was the second submitted by On Tower Ireland Ltd for the same location, at Pearsonbrook, Glasson, in 2024.
In May the company had sought permission for a 27-metre lattice telecommunications support structure at the site, but this was refused by the council in July.
On Tower Ireland Limited sought to appeal that decision to An Bord Pleanála, but, according to the planning board's website, the appeal was "invalid" because it was lodged after the timeframe for an appeal had expired.
The company's new planning application for a slightly less tall, 24-metre, communications mast was lodged in early November. Like the previous planning application, it included a letter of support from the communications firm Three Ireland.
Three Ireland said in its letter that it was interested in "locating equipment" onto the proposed monopole structure in Glasson in order to "provide improved mobile and wireless broadband coverage" to the Glasson area.
The company told the council that "failure to progress this installation" could have "a negative future impact on network subscribers enjoying future technologies."
The planning application attracted several local objections, some of which argued that it "closely mirrored" the previous application from On Tower Ireland Ltd, which was refused.
The reasons given by the council for its planning refusal last week were along the same lines as the reasons given for refusing the prior application during the summer.
The council stated that the "height, scale and location of the proposed development would be "injurious, visually incongruous and would detract" from the status of the "Lough Ree area of high amenity" in which the development would be situated.
The council also said the applicant had failed to demonstrate that "legal consent" had been obtained and that "adequate sightlines are available from" the access laneway at the junction onto the L-1437 local road.
Thirdly, the council stated that the proposed mast was in proximity to two recorded monuments; namely a ringfort and a souterrain.
The local authority concluded that the proposed mast "would injure or interfere with the historic remains and setting" of these monuments, which are "subject to statutory protection in the Record of Monuments and Places".
On Tower Ireland Ltd has four weeks in which it can appeal the council's decision to An Bord Pleanála.