Published: May 14, 2007
Controversial Burnham-On-Sea phone mast goes... as new one appears

Mobile phone operator O2 dismantled its controversial phone mast in the centre of Burnham-On-Sea on Monday morning (May 14th)... as a new 'temporary' mast was erected just a few hundred metres away in a nearby street.

Burnham-On-Sea.com reported in March how the Planning Inspectorate had branded the Marine Drive mast as "jarring, ill proportioned, top heavy and over-obtrusive."

It gave the mobile phone giant two months to remove the mast - and on Monday O2's contractors dismantled the structure.

But at the same time, a new mast sprung up next to the town's lifeboat station in Pier Street.

Several local residents have already voiced concerns about the new temporary mast, pictured below, and are vowing to campaign for it to be removed.

One resident, who asked not to be named, told Burnham-On-Sea.com: "Placing a new mast like this near our homes without any advance notice is just not on - it's a monstrosity."

O2 spokesman Angela Johnson told Burnham-On-Sea.com last week that the Marine Drive structure would be removed and that O2 is working hard to find a permanent location for a mast.

The Planning Inspectorate's decision came after an Enforcement Order was placed on O2 by Sedgemoor District Council last year when the company's six-month 'temporary' installation expired.

O2 submitted a five-page appeal against the Order, and this in turn sparked an enquiry by the government's Planning Inspectorate. An inspector visited the site in February.