East Preston 5G mast plan: Safeguarding referral amid fears for health and safety of care home residents

Planning permission is being sought for a 5G telecoms installation – a 15m street pole and additional equipment cabinets – in Sea Lane, East Preston.

The application has been submitted by CK Hutchison Holdings, on behalf of The Three mobile network. The developers had a similar proposal approved in Littlehampton earlier this year.

If the latest plan is approved, the mast would be next to Dean House residential care home.

Local resident Tony Miles said the mast ‘might affect people who have dementia’.

He said: “The top of the mast will be about 26 metres from the top floor of my house but I can choose to go somewhere else. The care home residents have no choice.”

A spokesperson for West Sussex County Council said: “We received a safeguarding referral after a member of the public raised concerns about proposals for a 5G mast in East Preston.

“Following consideration, it was decided no further safeguarding action was necessary and the individual was informed of the outcome.”

Residents held a campaign day on Saturday, November 12 at the site of the proposed ‘massive MIMO monopole’.

More than 250 people have signed petitions, opposed to the proposal. Click here to sign the online petition.

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Tony said: “The most telling thing on Saturday was the number of people who came specifically to sign the petition and to get involved.

"Its monopole will be overly intrusive in the street scene. Sea Lane is one of two sites of access to the beach from East Preston and as such has a very high foot fall.

"Typically there will be between 100 and 200 people per day, many more on a summer weekend. This area of verge is used by people to safely load and unload their children and beach stuff during the summer when the road can be very busy, all of which will be lost should this go ahead.”

Tony said residents ‘understand the need’ for better digital communication and ‘recognise that this has an impact’. However, they are keen to ‘prevent a planning disaster happening in our village’.

He added: “The whole of East Preston Village is currently being upgraded to super-fast broadband and 5G via a small cell network which will cover all of the village including our street.

"The small cell network is so unobtrusive as to be almost invisible quite unlike the mast. This Massive MIMO monopole is only to serve those areas where there is no available street furniture such as the unadopted roads found in private estates.”

East Preston Parish Council lodged an official objection after a meeting on October 24.

A spokesperson said: "Although this council is well aware of the need for improved mobile performance within the village, especially at the southern end, it does not feel the proposed location is the right one for a mast and associated cabinets of this scale.”

Arun District Council planning officer, Kathryn Welch, said the application has ‘understandably, raised a significant level of interest’ from the local community.

"To date, we have received over a hundred representations, both in support and in opposition of the proposal,” she said. “All such representations have been recorded and will be considered during the application process.

"Having read the comments, adverse impact on the visual character of the area, and concern over the residents’ wellbeing in the nearby nursing home feature frequently in the objections.”

Due to amendments which have been made during the course of the application, a decision is now not expected until January 2.

Local residents may comment on the application, via the district council’s website, until December 8.

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