Please Object to this Mast and the abuse of the planning process by April 14th

Thank you for signing our petition for the removal of the mast in Lewes. We now need your help again to object to Three's latest application for a mast in the SAME location - right next to a primary and nursery school, directly opposite houses and in one of the South Downs National Park's protected views.

The school playground is just behind the mast and the photo show how close the local houses are.

A retrospective planning application was rejected by the council planning committee in 2023 and this decision was upheld by the Planning Inspector. But council officers - in defiance of government guidance - have now invited Three to make a THIRD application.

Please submit your objections at https://planningpublicaccess.southdowns.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=makeComment&keyVal=SQHLYHTUFVO00 
or emailPlanningfirst@lewes-eastbourne.gov.uk quoting ref SDNP/25/00266/FUL

Comments must be received by 14th April but the sooner the better.

Here is a summary of our key objections to the latest proposal - you can also read more detail at http://www.nonevillmast.com You might wish to use some of these points in your own objection, or add your own reasons for opposing the mast.

1: A retrospective application for this identical development was already refused by LDC Planning Applications Committee in 2023 and dismissed by the Planning Inspectorate in 2024. Enforcement action to remove the mast should already have been taken.

2: The claimed “principle” for siting a mast in this location was based on information now known by all concerned to have been wholly false and misleading.

3: The latest application fails to provide evidence to support the siting of a mast in this specific location. The applicant has now changed their story about why the proposed mast would be required, but the new story is again based on false and misleading information.

4: There is no evidence that the applicant has properly considered alternative siting options, including sharing or upgrading existing transmission sites in the area, which could provide better coverage gains without the built mast’s negative impacts.

5: The applicant has provided inaccurate drawings of the surrounding area, which ignore the school grounds and footpath and misrepresent how close members of the public could come to the mast antennae. The ICNIRP safety certification relies on these drawings and is therefore unreliable - meaning there's no way of knowing whether parts of the school grounds or footpath are safe for the public to enter.

6: The lack of a transparent and accurate public safety assessment makes it impossible for the adjoining primary and nursery school to fulfil its duty of care to children, parents and employees under health and safety legislation.

7: No Equality Impact Assessment has been carried out, including no assessment of how the mast will affect people with metal in their bodies or medical implants.

8: The mast is visually intrusive, overbearing and detrimental to the character and appearance of the surrounding area, the landscape setting, historical assets, and the wider South Downs National Park.

9: The design and position of the built mast are substantially more visually obtrusive and overbearing than the scheme that was proposed in 2022.

10: Rejecting the current application will hopefully prompt the applicant to conduct the proper investigations to find a less harmful, evidence-based location that would also provide more efficient coverage.

Thank you