A bid for a new 4G/5G mast in Tenby has been turned down, but the applicants can still submit a full planning application.
Mobile Broadband Network Limited, based in Reading and represented by Dot Surveying Limited, sought approval from Pembrokeshire Coast National Park for a 4G/5G base station on a verge off The Salterns, Tenby.
The replacement mast would have been a 20-metre monopole with a built-in cabinet, nine radio antennas, two transmission dishes and five ground cabinets.
The application said Mobile Broadband Network Limited was jointly owned by EE Limited and H3G ‘Three’, which shared a telecommunications site on the roof of The Park Hotel in North Cliff, Tenby.
It said: “The owner of the property has potential plans for the building. As a result of these plans, EE and Three will be decommissioning their apparatus. A replacement installation will therefore be required to ensure vital network coverage and capacity is maintained within the local area.”
It adds: “Unlike the existing site, the new base station will provide a combination of 4G (fourth Generation) and 5G (Fifth Generation) network coverage. 5G operates at a higher frequency and the signals do not travel as far. As a result, the radio planner for EE and Three (the person with ultimate responsibility for building and maintaining the network) has determined that a 20-metre-high monopole will be required to support the necessary radio antennas and achieve operational requirements.”
Without a replacement, coverage would be lost in the area, while the new mast would add capacity by “offloading a degree of traffic from neighbouring base stations”.
The applicants hoped the mast would qualify for permitted development rights, which cover certain types of communications infrastructure without a full planning application.
But an officer’s report said the scheme was too large for permitted development rights because one cabinet exceeded the size limit: “Planning permission would be required for this element of the scheme and consequently the proposal in its entirety cannot be considered under prior approval for siting and appearance.”
The notification was refused, meaning the applicants must submit a full planning application.
A national park spokesperson said: “The mast does not fall within permitted development rights as part of the supporting infrastructure is larger than the amounts defined by Welsh Government. Therefore, the notification has been refused, and the applicant advised that planning permission is necessary.”
Henry Tufnell MP has raised concerns about poor mobile coverage in parts of Pembrokeshire, particularly Tenby, which he said suffered persistent ‘not-spots’ during the busy holiday season.
VodafoneThree UK has previously said it plans to upgrade the Slippery Back Lane mast in Tenby, but work is not expected to be completed until 2028.
The supporting statement warned that losing the capacity could make it difficult to make or receive calls, stream data and run applications, and said EE provided the emergency services network.
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