Telecoms Mast Planned for Iconic Area
KAREN RODEN of Fishguard has written this opinion piece:
Arguably one of West Wales’s most iconic landscapes, the Garn Fawr ridge, the highest ground within the Pencaer peninsula, could have an additional feature in the shape of a 20.6 metre (67.6 ft) telecommunications mast.
Cornerstone, a mobile infrastructure services company, is in the process of locating suitable sites for radio base stations in Pembrokeshire on behalf of Vodafone. They have selected a location, alongside the narrow road that lies between the Iron Age hillforts of Garn Fawr and Garn Fechan, which takes you over the steep ridge to Strumble Head. These Scheduled Monuments are believed to date back to the Iron Age, c 800BC – AD74. The hillforts, also referred to as camps, appear to have remained in use for centuries, and the landscape in and around them is rich in prehistory, containing ramparts, hut circles, a defended enclosure, the Carn Gilfach chambered tomb, another hillfort lower down the ridge of Dinas Mawr etc. [You can read more about Garn Fawr and Garn Fechan on Pembrokeshire.Online.]
The proposed telecommunications mast, as can be seen here in Cornerstone’s diagram, would consist of meter and equipment cabinets, the tower, transmission dishes, and antennas. As the ground slopes sharply in this location, it would have to be cleared and levelled to form a flat surface for the concrete platform. There would also be a 2 metre high welded mesh fence around the site. Bizarrely, given the windswept and rather barren topography of the site, the planning application documents state that the mast will be timber clad, while metalwork will be painted dark green, to ‘mitigate’ the visual impact.
The plan is to position this mast at the side of the road between the two hillforts, and slightly on the Harmony side of the saddle of the ridge. This would place it across the road from the small National Trust car park, and just a little lower down the slope. There is a gate there currently, although access for construction would require a wider entrance and an access track.
This is also within view of what is known as John Piper’s cottages, which the artist used as his studio and retreat. John Piper (1903-1992) is acclaimed as one of the most influential British artists of the 20th century, and many of his later paintings feature this remarkable landscape. In 2013 one of his paintings of Garn Fawr sold at Christie’s for in excess of £37,000. Somewhat dismissively, the Heritage Impact Document produced by Cornerstone (contained in the planning link below), argues that as John Piper’s artworks of this area were largely abstract, the addition of the mast has ‘a limited impact on the historical connection between the artist and these two buildings’. Quite rightly, the response from the Building Conservation Officer for the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority, in which he recommends refusal, states: ‘..This is an interesting but subjective stance as the wider and communal context of Piper living and working within the immediate area is ignored (as is the fact that Piper turned away from abstract painting early in his career). Be that as it may, this does not mitigate (as the report seems to suggest) against the fact that the mast will be very visible in views to, from and across the listed cottages…’.
Rather bafflingly Cadw, the historic environment service of the Welsh Government, fails to mention that the mast would be sited between the two neighbouring hillforts of Garn Fawr and Garn Fechan. Instead, the caseworker comments on the visual impact of the mast on the Dinas Mawr hillfort being low. This is going to be checked with Cadw, as Dinas Mawr lies on the seaward side of Garn Fawr, and at a far lower height. It is doubtful that the mast would be visible at all from that location, so it is mystifying as to why, in recommending approval, Cadw focuses on this Scheduled Monument rather than Garn Fechan, which would be within metres of the proposed mast and at a similar height.
We are increasingly reliant on our mobile phones, and so many living in or visiting an area which, apparently, lacks good coverage, may well welcome an improved service. However, this is a sensitive location in Pencaer, and Cornerstone do not appear to have consulted closely with either the National Park (NP) or the local community. In fact, the application is a Prior Notification for Telecommunications (PNT), which was registered with the NP on 8 March. The Local Planning Authority (the NP, as it is within the National Park) has to decide if the application is Permitted Development or not. This means that it is not a full planning application, and is a technical decision, which is based on UK legislation rather than consultation. This allows for only 28 days in which to make a decision on the application which does not allow time for the NP to put it out for detailed consultation. Coincidentally, this has happened to fall right across the Easter break. If the NP misses the deadline, then the developers could benefit from an automatic grant of planning permission.
Below is a link to the NP’s planning weblink for this application. It contains all the documents relating to the proposed scheme, and is being regularly updated as more documents and responses are received. I have included some of the images that feature within the weblink, but there are many others. I would advise caution, though, when looking at the visualisations provided by the developer as some seem to give an impression which appears to play down what could be the true visual impact of the mast on that iconic location.
