A woman said she "nearly had a heart attack" after coming home to find a huge 5G mast had appeared at the bottom of her garden "with no warning". Resident of the Rochdale cul-de-sac have been left "extremely disappointed" by the 65ft "rocket" pole that was put up after a council planning permission decision was overturned.
Homeowner Claire Brophy said she was not informed about the mast - which now sits within touching distance of back garden - before it was built. Another resident Amy Openshaw said: "It isn't nice to look at. When you're in the rooms at the top of the stairs, it is there, in your face.
"We literally went to work and came home and it was there. I'll probably tell more when all the leaves start dropping off, I'll see it a lot more then. There is a lot of open space where it could've gone, rather than literally there."
Rochdale Council initially refused planning permission for the installation in March last year because it would "represent an incongruous and dominant feature" near homes, the Mirror reports. But this decision was overturned and now residents say they came home from work one day to find a mast had been installed within touching distance of their back gardens.
Amy said she has been left powerless to stop it and joked: "Unless I went over and tried to take it down myself".
Cornerstone, the mobile infrastructure firm responsible for the mast, said it “gives great consideration to minimising the visual impact’ of its equipment”. But the Rochdale residents are not convinced.
Another resident added: “There are other places in the same area where this could have gone causing less obstruction to neighbouring properties. Unfortunately I'm aware it has to go somewhere and they are an eyesore wherever they go."
But some residents, however, are not so bothered about the 65ft pole. Ange and Lee Shepherd live on the same road as Claire and whilst they are not so fussed about the view, they do wish they had a warning.
"To be honest, the only bits that ever annoyed us were when they were doing all the work and I struggled to get my car in and out," Ange said. "But the only place we can really see it from is the back bedroom. It doesn't really bother me, but I can see why it would. But it's the price you pay for progress, isn't it."
Rochdale MP Tony Lloyd says he will be contacting the Government ministers responsible for the planning inspectorate to ask them to "urgently" look into the issue. He said: ‘“Nobody should come home to find such a monstrosity with seemingly grossly inadequate consultation and no consideration for the view from her house”.
So far, Cornerstone has said they understand its mobile infrastructure impacts communities and "gives great consideration to minimising the visual impact" of its equipment. In a statement the company said: "Cornerstone proposed a base station in Balderstone, Rochdale, to provide essential network connectivity including 5G services to the area.
"Unfortunately the proposed base station was refused by the Local Planning Authority [the council]. Following this refusal we reviewed all our options, but concluded that the proposed site remained the best option locally.
"A planning appeal was progressed and ultimately allowed. The site has now been developed and screening provided by adjacent trees will minimise views of the proposal within much of the local area."
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