‘If this 5G mast goes up in Sea Mills, I’ll be devastated’

When I first heard about the proposal for a ‘5G pole’ on Sea Mills Square, in the heart of our conservation area I, like many, imagined something the size of a large lamppost. The reality is quite different and would be a shocking change to the most busy and popular part of our community.

Calling it a pole is disingenuous to say the least. The plans show a 18-metre high mast, taller than our historic oak tree, towering above the Square.

In Sea Mills, residents have been alerted by their local councillors via social media about the plans. But a bit of internet research reveals countrywide newspaper reports of residents distressed to find workmen arriving to erect masts with no advance warning. The pictures which accompany them will do nothing to reassure local people about the look of the mast which is potentially coming to our garden suburb.

The proposal has been made by CK Hutchinson Networks (UK) Limited, the parent company of the Three mobile network. A similar application from Hutchinson 3G UK Limited for a 10-metre mast, during the 3G rollout, was fought off by local residents in 2003.

The 5g mast would be taller than the Addison’s oak tree in Sea Mills Square, which is over 100 years old. Photo by Evan Dawson, Homes for Heroes

Just two years ago, the estate marked its 100th birthday with centenary celebrations in the Square. Addison’s oak played a central part in the event: local school children gathered to sing happy 100th birthday to the tree, while Bristol city poet Vanessa Kisuule read a poem she had written to mark the occasion. The oak went on to be a finalist in the Woodland Trust’s Tree of the Year award 2019, highlighting the significance of this historic tree.

The Square is the centre of our community. It includes our Post Office, community cafe, a phone box mini-museum as well as Addison’s oak, which takes its name from the architect of the housing act which made the building of large municipal housing estates like Sea Mills possible.

Christopher Addison was a visionary: a man who had given up a career in medicine because he believed that he could have more impact on public health as a politician than as a doctor. Addison was present when the appropiately-named lady mayoress Emily Twiggs planted the sapling oak in 1919. The low-density housing, street trees, green space, and pleasant vistas throughout the area are all present because of this man’s desire to create places for ordinary people to live that promoted physical and mental well-being.

The plan shows Addison’s oak – with no scale to confirm its height – on the left next to an existing lamp post, with the proposed 5g mast next to a smaller tree. Photo by WHP Telecoms/CK Hutchinson Networks (UK) Limited

This mast, if allowed to go ahead, will scar this location and change it forever. I’m not against 5G, in fact I look forward to the benefits it will bring, but the proposed location in this historically significant square is highly inappropriate. The proposal no doubt is the cheapest possible solution; it positions the mast close to existing power and fiber optics. That’s an economy too far in my opinion and I’ll be devastated if this goes ahead on our Square.

The current application is to assess whether the proposal needs to have full planning consent. Sea Mills has been designated a conservation area by Bristol City Council. Here local residents need planning permission to make many of the changes others elsewhere in the city can do without it.

Approval for a small strip of hardstanding and an awning to enhance the local community cafe – something which was almost universally approved by locals – took years to be agreed. That an 18-metre tall mast, dwarfing our community infrastructure and dominating the skyline, could be erected without full planning permission, seems like a massive double standard.

The proposal can be viewed and commented on at Bristol City Council’s planning website.

Mary Milton is reporting on Sea Mills as part of Bristol24/7’s community reporter scheme, a pilot project which aims to tell stories from areas of Bristol traditionally under-served by the mainstream media

Main photo by Mary Milton

Read more: Local facilities at risk in Sea Mills and Lawrence Weston