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Jesus Green phone mast row: Labour-run Cambridge City Council denies Lib Dem claims of ‘cover-up’




Cambridge City Council and its Labour leadership have denied Liberal Democrat claims of a “cover up” over a proposal by telecoms companies to install a temporary 30-metre (100ft) communications mast on Jesus Green.

An email sent from a Waldon Telecoms employee to Mobile Broadband Network Limited, sent in error to the Local Democracy Reporting Service after details of the mast proposal were posted online, said the council had “asked us to hold off on sending any community notifications until closer to the deployment date”.

The Jesus Green mast: how it might look
The Jesus Green mast: how it might look

Waldon Telecoms has been acting on behalf of Mobile Broadband Network Limited and issued Cambridge City Council with an emergency notice stating its intention to erect the telecoms mast on Jesus Green on a temporary basis.

The telecoms companies have said the mast may be needed on a temporary basis because telecoms equipment currently used by EE and Hutchison 3G is located on top of the Park Street car park, which the council owns and is planning to demolish as part of a redevelopment project.

The city council has said it is opposed to the mast being erected on Jesus Green, but that it has received legal advice that the telecoms companies can use national legislation - permitted development rights - to proceed with the installation, despite the city council being the planning authority and owning the land.

Following the publication of the mast proposal online and the subsequent press interest, a Waldon Telecoms employee emailed Mobile Broadband Network Limited that the notice for the telecoms mast had “somehow been put into the public domain”.

The employee added that the city council had “asked us to hold off on sending any community notifications until closer to the deployment date”.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service was copied into the email - by mistake, it appears, as the Waldon Telecoms employee attempted to recall it after sending.

Cllr Tim Bick, Market ward councillor and the leader of the Liberal Democrat opposition group, said: “This information is deeply disturbing, indicating that the council was trying to keep the public in the dark about the mast until the last minute, when protest would be futile.

“It’s difficult to fathom how a council that respects its citizens and adheres to the principles of honesty and transparency could think this manipulative approach was right.

Cllr Tim Bick, leader of the Liberal Democrats on Cambridge City Council
Cllr Tim Bick, leader of the Liberal Democrats on Cambridge City Council

“We must thank our lucky stars that the council failed in its attempted cover-up – and that only, ironically, because the planning department mistakenly published information on its webpages. What a catalogue of shameful incompetence.

“There’s another worrying aspect to this failed cover-up. There are council elections on May 6. With construction due to start on May 16, when was the council going to notify the public about the coming bombshell?

“The public is being treated to the ludicrous spectacle of Labour councillors claiming they are opposed to the phone mast on Jesus Green.

“This is just crocodile tears and insulting to people’s intelligence unless they are actually prepared to stop it, which they can do by postponing the demolition of their car park, where the antenna now sits, until a suitable permanent location has been agreed.”

The Labour leader of the council, Cllr Lewis Herbert, responded: “The accusations of secrecy are grossly unfair. We have been open with resident associations and local councillors, including at the regular Park Street liaison group meetings.

“The Liberal Democrat Market ward councillors have been kept informed, including understanding that an application was made by EE for a permanent site elsewhere, and have known for months that EE might propose a temporary mast for Jesus Green.

“The decisions and choices related to the mast are a matter for the telecoms companies, and we were not aware of when any application would be made.

“We are working to assist the telecoms companies consider alternative sites both temporary and permanent, because Jesus Green is the wrong temporary option, and we will continue to press them to maintain coverage by a different route.”

Addressing the question of why the city council does not further delay the redevelopment of the car park where the current mast is located, he said: “We will look at the timescales on the project based on legal advice, some of which is commercially confidential, but we plan to share more publicly what we can of that legal advice later this week.”

A council spokesperson added: “The telecommunication operators potential proposal to use Jesus Green for a temporary site was discussed in the Park Street Liaison Forum – a broad forum for residents, local businesses and councillors – in early November 2020.

“We have certainly never suggested to EE that they should not communicate with the community and public.

“We have suggested that they discuss their communications strategy and plans with us before issuing, owing to our local knowledge and contacts. The only point recently where timing on community engagement was discussed was where we suggested they might be better to await some advice expected on an issue they were investigating to ensure there had more clarity on the point concerned.”

The city council has said it has reached an agreement with the telecoms companies so that, if no alternative solution is found and the temporary mast is required, its potential usage of Jesus Green would be reduced from the 18 months referenced in the emergency notice to 12 months.

The council said last week: “By reaching an agreement with EE and Hutchison 3G and extending the use of Park Street car park, the longest period for using Jesus Green would be from June 27 to June 26, 2022, and they would not to seek to use Jesus Green after that for a period of two years”.

Waldon Telecoms did not provide a comment when approached by the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

A spokesperson for Mobile Broadband Network Limited said last week that “the mast which is to be placed at Jesus Green is a temporary structure” and that finding an alternative permanent location is a “complex process”.

The spokesperson said: “We are legally required to vacate from our existing location, and that has meant that we will need a temporary solution in order to be in a position to continue providing critical national infrastructure to the many residents and businesses in the area which rely upon it.

“As we continue through a period of such uncertainty, this connectivity is more important than ever before.”

They added: “We very much welcome the comments, feedback and support from the local community and elected members to help us in identifying a permanent site.”

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