Council officers 'need to get back to office' over 5G mast errors

Two 60ft tall 5G phone masts that had been refused permission by a local authority were erected outside residents' homes after officers missed a 56-day deadline to block them.

And there are fears a third unwanted mast will be installed after officials again apparently did not object in time.

One local councillor said the errors may have been avoided had planning officials been working in the office rather than remotely.

Read more: Three 5G mast in Bournemouth despite planning refusal error

Marcus Andrews claims that 'nine out of ten' officers he deals with at Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole Council are working from home.

Mr Andrews, a Liberal Democrat, said: "Any planning organisation should have systems in place where things that come in are tallied up at the end of the day to make sure everything is processed.

"An administrative mistake is unfortunate but I know the planning department is having issues with registering and processing applications.

"You are probably going to run things better if you can get people together in a room, rather than by a Zoom meeting.

"Jacob Rees-Mogg called on civil service workers to get back in the office, and I haven't asked the question how many planning officers are still working from home, but whenever I have a Zoom meeting with officers nine out of ten of them are in their living room or spare bedroom.

Read more: 5G mast going up on Broadway Lane due to Council ‘error’

"White collar staff should return to the office - they are called officers, so they should be in the office. Otherwise, we would call them 'third bedroom people'."

He added: "I'm not having a go at any individual officers or senior managers, but across the country getting good quality planning staff is a problem, and systematic of that is people still working from home.

"It is not just BCP, councils up and down the country are as they can earn more in private practice."

Phone mast applications are submitted through the prior approval procedure, which does not require the same level of consultation as a typical planning application.

The council's planning department has 56 days to deliver a refusal decision for the proposal to be blocked.

Phone company Three say the council has therefore 'deemed consent' and has no legal power to stop them putting the mast up.

All they can do is advise Three to 'paint it green to better match the surroundings'.

The first missed deadline was for an application submitted by Three's parent company Hutchinson 3G UK Holdings Limited for Castle Lane West in Bournemouth on August 19 last year.

Read more: 5G mast could go up in Poole after another BCP Council error

Earlier this month, a second mast went up on Broadway Lane in Bournemouth after another missed deadline, prompting outrage among locals.

BCP Council said they are in talks with Three about the Merley 5G mast application as they disagree with them over 'deemed consent'.

But David Kelsey, chairman of the council's planning committee, said he did not believe there was an issue with working from home.

He said: "The majority of planning applications are registered through an online portal.

"There has been a backlog but we are trying to clear it as quickly as we can and things have improved in the last six months to ensure applications are dealt with as quickly as possible."

On working from home provision, a BCP Council spokesperson said: "BCP Council is developing modern working practices that benefit both service provision and our colleagues."

They would not provide figures on the number of staff working from home.