COUNCIL planners appear to have been caught out and left red-faced for the THIRD time over applications to erect 5G masts.

Phone company Three has assumed deemed consent in relation to proposals for land in a residential area of Poole.

Three said it will press ahead with the new mast in Sopwith Crescent after not receiving a response from BCP Council within 56 days of submitting a prior-approval application.

Frustrated Bearwood and Merley ward councillor Richard Burton said BCP Council’s planning department faces “questions that need to be answered”.

There is no record of the application on the council’s online planning portal and the local authority said it does not agree with Three over there being deemed consent.

A spokesperson for the telecommunications giant said: “We carried out extensive searches and surveys to evaluate options before applying for planning permission on Sopwith Crescent.

“We followed the correct processes and made an application on November 25, 2021, and did not receive a response from the council within the 56-day timeframe – as a result, we have approval to build the mast.”

Applicants can attempt to use the prior approval procedure, which is an expedited planning application process, for permission to install masts. This approach does not require the same level of consultation as a traditional planning application, such as for a residential housing scheme.

Three sent pre-consultation letters to the council’s planning department, as well as Cllr Burton and his fellow ward councillors Marcus Andrews and David Brown and Richard Burton, on November 11 last year.

After receiving this correspondence, Cllr Burton and his Liberal Democrat colleagues canvassed the properties in the immediate area of the proposed site with the expectation that when the application was submitted, the rest of the community could comment through the planning portal.

However, Cllr Burton said it has never appeared, leaving many residents in the dark.

“My issue is that my residents haven’t had the ability to comment on this planning application because the process hasn’t been gone through due to whatever reason BCP Council planning department say,” said Cllr Burton.

Bournemouth Echo: Cllr Richard BurtonCllr Richard Burton

He said: “I have been searching the planning portal for this because I had been expecting it. If I haven’t found it, nobody will have seen it.

“I spoke to residents directly around it but I didn’t speak to residents slightly further away. We did the tens of houses around it. We didn’t have the resources to do the whole of Merley.

“These people have been denied the opportunity of commenting on an application which is going to affect them, whether that is for or against it.”

Councillor Burton said given previously reported problems with the council’s handling of 5G mast applications, he has concerns residents across the conurbation could be affected.

Earlier this month, the Daily Echo reported on how BCP Council failed to provide notice of refusal to Three over a mast in Castle Lane West, despite it being published on the planning portal within the relevant time period. Last year, council planners failed to reach a decision within the necessary time period for a proposal in nearby Broadway Lane.

As a result, both of these masts were erected despite refusal decisions being reached.

On the situation in Merley, a BCP Council spokesperson said: “We are currently in talks with the operator as the Council does not agree there is deemed consent for the mast."

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