Castle Bromwich Community Website

A Planning application has been received by Solihull MBC for modifications to  the mobile phone mast installation on the corner of Bradford Road & Old Croft Lane.

The plan is to replace the existing mast with another and add an additional cabinet on the roadside.

The Planning Application number is 2010/0456. Drawings, etc, of the proposed work and any comments can be seen or left here.

http://www.solihull.gov.uk/planning/dc/ViewApp.asp

For those folk who earnestly believe that mobile phone masts are a health danger, we should be grateful to "Hillwalker" for this information.

Now, if you have any objections, this is the oppurtunity to unite behind your cause.

How?........Well first step is to E-Mail SMBC.

Then E-Mail Arden Hall, ( Clerk to the Parish Council, Mrs Tibbit)

Then, attend on the last Wednesday in the month, the Parish Council meeting.......starts at 19.30 hours.......and stand up and ask the Chairman, all the questions that bother you as a conscientious human being, residing in  Castle Bromwich .

My money is on no one being there, as is usual, then bemoaning that the Parish Council is a waste of money......your money.

On the other hand, google who your Solihull Councillor is, ( you have three) and E-Mail him/her.

Get busy......its your duty, if you have any objections.

Thirty six people have viewed this post.

Thirty six.......and not one reply.

So, all is right with the Parish of Castle Bromwich.

Now the Parish Council need not have any worries about a dis -content  population.

That explains why the seats are always empty at the Parish Council meetings.

We are content.

COLIN PETER YOUNG at 08:59AM on Apr 15, 2010

Thirty six people have viewed this post.

Thirty six.......and not one reply.

So, all is right with the Parish of Castle Bromwich.

Now the Parish Council need not have any worries about a dis -content  population.

That explains why the seats are always empty at the Parish Council meetings.

We are content.

 

I have no problem with another mast in Castle Brom. I don't see people dropping like flies due to phone masts anywhere else in the country so why should it happen here? If it is an eyesore then fair enough have a moan about it but the one by the graveyard is suitably hidden from view.

You clearly don't live on Bradford Road Bigduke.

These masts are an eyesore, even more so after the cabinets have been covered with graffiti, painted over, more graffiti, painted over etc, etc.. In addition, along the stretch of Chester Road/ Bradford Road, from outside Redcroft to the access to The Coach & Horses Public House, a distance of less than one mile, there are six mobile masts and associated cabinets. Furthermore, planning permission was refused recently for a seventh mast on the corner of Bradford Road and School Lane. If that had been granted there would have been seven in less than a mile.

As for your comment "not seeing people dropping like flies", neither you or anyone else knows what the long term affects of these masts might be. If the Castle Bromwich area needs all these masts why can't they be spread out so everyone gets the "enjoyment" of them? They're not all hid out of the way in the churchyard you know.

Colin, As for the Parish council meetings, some time ago I asked the parish council what they actually did for me other than provide the Arden Hall facilities. I didn't get a reply. When are these councillors elected?  Can we look forward to our Parish Councillors coming round canvassing in the next few weeks or will they carry on as if nothing has happened? I still don't know what they do, except hold meetings in which everyone walks out because of a disagreement of some kind. Who would actually want to give up their evening to witness that?

I note the minutes of the meeting held on 31st March still haven't been published in the Parish Council web page.

Now there is an informative posting. I did not know we had so many communication masts in so short an area.

I ask, anyone who is, may I be allowed to say, ignorant, of Parish Council proceedings and election, to please go and ask the Chairman.

It is not a wasted 2 hours!!! Its your right to know how your money is being spent.

Quote:Hillwalker: Colin, as for the Parishcouncil meetings, some time ago I asked the parish council what they actuallydid for me other than provide the Arden Hall facilities. I didn't get a reply.When are these councillors elected?  Can we look forward to our Parish Councillorscoming round canvassing in the next few weeks or will they carry on as ifnothing has happened? I still don't know what they do, except hold meetings inwhich everyone walks out because of a disagreement of some kind. Who wouldactually want to give up their evening to witness that?

I note the minutes of the meetingheld on 31st March still haven't been published in the Parish Council web page.

The next elections for Castle Bromwich Parish Councillors will be May 2011. I very much doubt that there will be any canvassing if past experience is anything to go by. Only one of the current Parish Councillors has actually had to contest a seat and the others have either been elected unopposed or co-opted to fill empty seats. There is currently one empty seat which I believe the Parish Council is looking for Co-option Applications for.

The gist of the disagreements within the Parish Council actually relate to the very question you asked, “What do these Parish Councillors actually do for you other than provide Arden Hall?” There are a number of Parish Councillors who have been asking just this question because they feel that the Parish Council is costing the Precept payer a disproportionate amount of money for the services which it provides. These Councillors are also seeking answers to a number of other more specific questions and an agreement to debate on a number of issues, but feel frustrated by the manner in which their questions and requests for debate are dealt with. In addition to providing Arden Hall and the facilities in the Park, the Parish Council also owns and maintains the Green, Whateley Green, Hobbs Farm and the land by Castle Bromwich Hall by Hall Road. It also co-organises the annual Remembrance Parade and a Christmas Carol Concert at Arden Hall and comments on Planning Applications.

The issue of questions not being answered was recently addressed at a Standards CommitteeHearing and there was a recommendation that Castle Bromwich Parish Council rewrites its Standing Orders to ensure that legitimate questions about Council Business are answered in Open Session.

Needless to say Solihull Planning Department have given permission for the mobile mast to be changed and an additional cabinet sited on the pavement. The whole area must be awash with microwaves.

However, they did impose one condition :-

(1) Within one month of the substantial completion of the development hereby approved it shall be painted in a colour to be agreed in writing with the Local Planning Authority and shall be treated with an anti graffiti coating. To safeguard the visual amenities of the area in accordance with Policy ENV2 of the Solihull Unitary Development Plan 2006.

They are concerned that an unpainted new pole & cabinet will affect the visual amenities of the area. At the moment the pole is brown, one of the cabinets is green and the other grey. I wonder what colour the new cabinet will be. It would be "nice" if they were all painted the same colour. 

Hillwalker at May 9, 2010 at 5:05 AM

Needless to say Solihull Planning Department have given permission for the mobile mast to be changed and an additional cabinet sited on the pavement. The whole area must be awash with microwaves.

However, they did impose one condition :-

(1) Within one month of the substantial completion of the development hereby approved it shall be painted in a colour to be agreed in writing with the Local Planning Authority and shall be treated with an anti graffiti coating. To safeguard the visual amenities of the area in accordance with Policy ENV2 of the Solihull Unitary Development Plan 2006.

They are concerned that an unpainted new pole & cabinet will affect the visual amenities of the area. At the moment the pole is brown, one of the cabinets is green and the other grey. I wonder what colour the new cabinet will be. It would be "nice" if they were all painted the same colour. 

"The plan is to replace the existing mast with another and add an additional cabinet on the roadside."

So it is not an additional mast - it is just replacing an existing one. I took a walk down the Bradford Road last night to look at the offending masts, and whilst I agree that there seems to be a high concentration of masts in Castle Bromwich, they are certainly not  'eyesores' as they look like most other items of street furniture. As for health concerns, that is mere conjecture and I would be worried about my own health if I felt that this situation justified such concerns. The situation in my opinion does not.

If these mobile phone masts are "safe", how come we never see birds sitting on them?

Just a thought......may-be they know something we dont, eh?

COLIN PETER YOUNG at May 11, 2010 at 6:17 PM

If these mobile phone masts are "safe", how come we never see birds sitting on them?

Just a thought......may-be they know something we dont, eh?

I am sorry I just cannot understand the concern. I would rather live opposite the mast and boxes than the vacant garage 50 meters down the road . I don't think that you can go through life measuring potential risks by whether birds land on them or not. Or maybe we can and that is where we have been going wrong.

"The plan is to replace the existing mast with another and add an additional cabinet on the roadside."

So it is not an additional mast - it is just replacing an existing one."

If you'd read my original comment properly BiG Duke you would have noticed I said the new application was to replace the existing mast with a new one.

One of the original planning application conditions for the initial installation was that the mast was to made to look like a telegraph pole, which it was. The new mast is a bog standard mast with a larger top section which will only look like a mobile phone mast.

I also consider this entire installation to be a hazard to traffic exiting from Old Croft Lane who will have their view of approaching traffic from the right obscured. This will be made worse when the additional cabinet is located on the pavement. I believe it's inevitable that one day this installation will be hit by a vehicle following a traffic accident at the junction. There have already been many such accidents here.

There are a number of Bradford Road residents, including me, who live opposite this installation and two disused garages, one of which operates seven days a week as a car wash. At weekends we can look forward to loud music competing with the pressure washers for our attention. That stretch of Bradford Road is definitely an eyesore in my opinion.

"As for health concerns, that is mere conjecture and I would be worried about my own health if I felt that this situation justified such concerns".   

I'm not sure from that statement if you live in the middle of all these masts Big Duke or was just visiting to see what the fuss is all about.

Hillwalker at May 16, 2010 at 5:24 AM

 

"The plan is to replace the existing mast with another and add an additional cabinet on the roadside."

So it is not an additional mast - it is just replacing an existing one."

If you'd read my original comment properly BiG Duke you would have noticed I said the new application was to replace the existing mast with a new one.

One of the original planning application conditions for the initial installation was that the mast was to made to look like a telegraph pole, which it was. The new mast is a bog standard mast with a larger top section which will only look like a mobile phone mast.

I also consider this entire installation to be a hazard to traffic exiting from Old Croft Lane who will have their view of approaching traffic from the right obscured. This will be made worse when the additional cabinet is located on the pavement. I believe it's inevitable that one day this installation will be hit by a vehicle following a traffic accident at the junction. There have already been many such accidents here.

There are a number of Bradford Road residents, including me, who live opposite this installation and two disused garages, one of which operates seven days a week as a car wash. At weekends we can look forward to loud music competing with the pressure washers for our attention. That stretch of Bradford Road is definitely an eyesore in my opinion.

"As for health concerns, that is mere conjecture and I would be worried about my own health if I felt that this situation justified such concerns".   

I'm not sure from that statement if you live in the middle of all these masts Big Duke or was just visiting to see what the fuss is all about.

I accept your point concerning the additional cabinet becoming a potential hazard due to visibility limitation but until we know exactly where it will be it is still mere conjecture and I am sure that it''s positioning will be considered upon it's erection. I live by the Remembrance Club and there is a mast within 100 meters of my house. I hope your fears are not realised as I have been living here for 14 years without any signs of adverse reaction but who knows what damage it could be doing inside me? (I have had 2 health checks for an ongoing condition in recent times and I am fine). But then the mast is well hidden in my part of Castle Brom and nowhere near a road junction. If health risks are a worry we should organise a health screening for a cross section of Castle Brom's residents from a cross section of residents who have live around the masts since their initial erection. That could be arranged.

Fair enough the sound of people cleaning cars and playing music in addition to the traffic from the busy road that you live on must be quite distressing but  then the road has always been busy and therefore noisy. I am not saying that your argument is not valid I just think that we should be focusing on other things in the area.

For  goodness sake folks, dont get angry with each other, get your point of view across at the Parish Council meetings. Your community charge is being wasted if you dont excersise your democratic rights of debate.

Lets show the Parish Council we are alive and kicking.

"I accept your point concerning the additional cabinet becoming a potential hazard due to visibility limitation but until we know exactly where it will be it is still mere conjecture and I am sure that it''s positioning will be considered upon it's erection."

We know exactly where the additional cabinet will be and Solihull MBC have already give their approval. it's shown on the applications drawings in the Solihull MBC website. Just go to the link in the first post above and enter the application number 2010/0456 and look at the drawings.

The new cabinet is actually going to the left of the existing green cabinet on the pavement parallel to Bradford Road. It will further restrict the view of oncoming traffic for drivers coming out of Old Croft Lane.

As for health issues,  I said earlier no one knows the long term effects of the microwave mobile mast poles. No-one thought Thalidomide, mining coal, smoking or asbestos could be dangerous to health at one time.

Colin, I'm not getting angry with anybody, just giving my point of view. If someone disagrees so be it. If I lived by the Remembrance Club I too might be unconcerned of the proliferation of mobile phone masts along the Chester/Bradford Roads.