82-foot communication tower plans in Llannefydd

An 82-foot-tall communication tower to improve mobile phone coverage is planned for a field in Llannefydd. 
Applicant Clarke Telecom has applied to Denbighshire County Council, seeking permission to erect a lattice tower and equipment cabinets at land at Ty’n-Y-Mynydd, Llannefydd. 
The 25-metre-high tower will support six antennas, four transmission dishes and ‘a GPS node’.  
The plans also include a generator and associated fuel tank as well as a fenced compound area.
Clarke Telecom’s application has been submitted to Conwy County Council’s planning department complete with Vodafone branding. 
The Northampton-based company says they have consulted Betws yn Rhos councillor Ifor Lloyd, MS Darren Millar, MP David Jones and Llanfair TH Community Council as part of the consultation process. 
The company has also written to the Welsh Government, and three neighbours have been consulted at Ffordd Talgrwn, Moelfre. 
In a statement as part of the application., the applicant commented on the design of the tower, explaining why the structure must be the size proposed.  
“The structure has to be able to support the equipment for three operators,” the statement reads.  
“A lattice tower is the most suitable design from a technical viewpoint, given the wind loading in this rural location. 
“Such a design is able to facilitate greater coverage and provide the structural capability required to be able to support the weight and the size of all the operator’s telecommunications equipment. 
“Due to the slimline nature of the supporting struts of the lattice frame, light is able to continue to pass through the structure. 
“If the lattice tower were to be any slimmer in width, then it would not be structurally capable of supporting all the operator’s equipment or meet wind loading requirements at this location.  
“The tower is proposed to be painted olive drab in order to assimilate with its rural surroundings.” 
If you would like to comment either in favour or against this application, visit https://www.conwy.gov.uk/en/Resident/Planning-Building-Control-and-Conservation/Planning-Applications/Planning-Explorer.aspx
The application will be discussed at a future meeting of Conwy County Council’s planning committee where a decision will be made.

By Richard Evans – Local Democracy Reporter