Campaigners disappointed after 5G phone mast proposed for site outside Fylde coast school is approved

The 15m high 5G mast will now be sited close to the outdoor learning area at Thornton Cleveleys Baines Endowed VC Primary School, on School Road.

In March, a group of parents and pupils were joined by residents in staging a a placard-waving protest about the mast,

They argued that it would be out of keeping with the area and raised questions about possible health concerns from electromagnetic radiation.

The application, lodged with Wyre Council by CEP Telecoms Ltd, of Leeds, on behalf of CK Hutchinson Networks (UK) Ltd, owner of the mobile network Three, was opposed by more than 120 people.

But it has now been approved by planning officers at Wyre Council.

Thornton mum Eve MacPhee, 43, a campaigner who has three children at the school, said: “As parents of children at Baines, we are severely disappointed that the proposed benefits of the 5G mast in this location have been found to outweigh the harm of the mast being entirely dominant in the street scene.

"In addition to the harm of its close proximity to the school, its leisure and nature areas.

"The fact that planners believed otherwise is not representative of the scale of public opposition to this mast.”

Masts don’t come under the criteria needed for them to be ruled over by councillors in a public planning committee hearing.

Instead they are dealt with by planning officers.

Campaigners had argued that there were other sites in the Thornton area more suitable for the mast.

But a Three spokesperson said: “5G rollout is vital for residents and businesses of Thornton. "We want to offer the community a reliable network experience and a new site will be critical to making that happen.

"Masts need to be situated where people will be using the service and, in many cases, in precise locations to ensure the widest breadth of coverage.

"We also take our obligation to run a safe network very seriously.”