Residents anger as new telephone mast appears

The metal tower was first spotted on the hillside opposite, near Low House Farm and above the Little Chef, around two weeks ago.

It is a communications mast for mobile phone company Orange and the structure actually made it through the planning process despite opposition from Ilkley Parish Council, last August.

But householders in Manor Park remained oblivious to the plans until the completed tower hit the skyline in March.

Southway residents Peter and Yvonne Dalby, who have lived at Manor Park for three years, bought their house especially for its picturesque view of the valley.

Mrs Dalby said: "Our bedroom now looks right over to this mast and it is absolutely disgraceful, like a mini Eiffel Tower but nowhere near as pretty and in the wrong place.

"It seemed to go up, completely without warning, around two weeks ago and it has ruined our view, which was my pride and joy.

"I'm really annoyed about it and I think it's a disgrace we weren't informed about it by either the parish council or the company themselves.

"It has ruined the landscape and it's an absolute eyesore."

Mr Dalby added: "When we first saw it I just thought 'where's that come from?' because we hadn't heard anything.

"It just takes away from the landscape and our view, which is one of the things that most appealed to us about this house."

Alan and Beryl Caunt's neighbouring Southway home, which sits above the River Wharfe, enjoys equally spectacular views.

Mrs Caunt said: "It just sprang up a couple of weeks ago, none of us knew anything about it, although we could see there was some building work going on at ground level.

"It has spoilt the view for us and I would like it removed - I object in principle to these things going up all over the countryside, but especially in a Green Belt area.

"We've been here seven years and it was the view, along with the position by the river, that attracted us."

Her husband, Alan, added: "We were simply amazed when it went up just before Easter, there was no warning at all.

"It looks straight at us from our lounge window, so we are not too amused to say the very least. I don't know what can be done now it's there, but some trees and bushes around the base might help hide it from view."

Rex and Shirley Armitage, meanwhile, have stayed in their Manor Park home, by the busy A65 Ilkley Road, for 15 years. The new mast is clearly visible from their south facing garden.

Mr Armitage said: "They ought to have told people before they put something like this up. There should have been some fore-warning, instead of just springing it on us."

But Ilkley Parish Council says it is up to the residents themselves to stay alert and look out for plans which could effect their area.

A public notice about the intended mast did, in fact, appear in last May's Ilkley Gazette, and the Parish Council refused the proposals, only to be over-ruled.

Chairman of the planning committee, Coun-cillor Audrey Brand, said: "We give a standard refusal to applications for telecommunications masts, on the grounds of visual intrusion, in other words that they spoil the view, and that we are in a Green Belt area where we don't want such things.

"We also take a precautionary approach on health grounds, because it hasn't yet been proved one way or another whether these masts are a hazard. So we refused this approval, although it went ahead regardless.

"I can understand residents being unhappy about their views being spoilt, but we deal with around 30 plans a fortnight and it is not our duty to go around Manor Park and knock on everybody's door to say 'did you know...'.

"Notices will have gone up on the nearest telegraph poles, which I accept is a bit ridiculous when you're talking about Manor Park Bends, where you are hardly likely to stop the car to read them.

"But notification of the plans will have also appeared in the Gazette last year, and I would have thought somebody would have spotted them and spread the word."

As it was, only two formal objections were lodged against the proposals - and neither from Manor Park residents.

Coun Brand says action to 'screen' the mast, which stands within half-a-mile of Clevedon House School, off Ben Rhydding Drive, could still be a possibility.

She said: "If the residents really feel it is a visual intrusion they can write to us or the Bradford planning officer at Ilkley Town Hall and see if it can be landscaped with trees and bushes."

Ilkley Civic Society secretary Alex Cockshott said: "The Society continues to be opposed to the erection of unsightly masts for mobile telephones in the area.

"It is of concern that these masts do not require full planning permission and that they are not always publicly advertised by local authorities.

"We usually request screening of sites with trees and shrubs and discreet access roads. No amount of shrub screening will disguise the antennae, however.

"As long as mobile phone usage continues to increase it is certain that pressure for even more masts will continue locally as well as nationally."