Athlone councillors call for separation distances between telecom masts and houses

“Nobody is against masts, but not beside a family home,” said Westmeath councillor Kevin 'Boxer' Moran at the September meeting of Athlone Moate Municipal District, where he called for stronger guidelines on the positioning of telecommunications masts in rural areas.

Referring to a recent case in which planning permission was granted for a mast in Glasson within nine metres of a house, Cllr Moran said the County Development Plan for Westmeath should “offer some protection for family homes” when it comes to telecommunications infrastructure.

“I don't think this council's planners would like to see what happened in Glasson happen to any other family in this county,” he said, while speaking on his motion calling for a variation in the County Development Plan to deal with this issue.

“I think we need to act fast on this one, and I think a small bit of practicality and common sense needs to be employed.

“Putting a huge mast within nine metres of a family home is not in anybody's interest,” he said.

Speaking in support of Cllr Moran's motion, the District Mayor, Cllr Frankie Keena, said the County Development Plan was “really limited” when it came to dealing with the mast issue.

“We do have guidelines on wind energy, and we should also have guidelines on masts,” he said.

Cllr Keena had tabled a question before the September meeting in which he queried the planning policy of Westmeath County Council in relation to the provision of telecom masts near residential property.

The written response from the council to both Cllr Moran's motion and Cllr Keena's question said the guidelines indicated that “separation distances should not be included in plans,” as they could have a major impact on the rollout of “a viable and effective telecommunications network”.

This prompted Cllr Keena to suggest that a letter be sent from the Athlone Moate Municipal District to the Department of the Environment, calling for separation distances to be included in county development plans.

A telecommunications mast which was recently installed very close to a family home in Ballinahown “didn't need planning permission at all,” said Cllr John Dolan, due to the fact that it was under 12 metres in height.

“I know the owner of the house and he didn't know a thing about it until someone came into his field to pour concrete for the mast,” said Cllr Dolan.

“Everyone wants good broadband, but not at any cost. I totally support this motion. We need regulations.”

Cllr Tom Farrell wanted to know if it was possible that someone who was refused planning permission for a mast could then make a new application for a mast which is less than 12 metres. “That loophole needs to be tightened,” he said.

Director of Services, Cathaldus Hartin, said a letter could issue to the Department of the Environment, “if members can agree on a wording about separation distance,” but he warned councillors that they needed to be careful not to implement rules that “could have unintended consequences”.

Cllr Kevin 'Boxer' Moran reminded Mr Hartin that the County Development Plan for Westmeath “belongs to the members” and that they should have the right to decide what goes into it.

“We all want infrastructure in this county,” he said, “but we don't want it on top of people's homes.”