Galway City Council votes to curtail phone masts in built-up areas

Galway City Council is to enforce tighter controls on the location of communications masts in the next City Development Plan amid rising tensions over new antennae plans.

At a meeting of the local authority this week, councillors backed a proposal from Senior Planner Caroline Phelan that the new CDP, to run from 2023 to 2029, would place a demand on telecom companies that all other options must be exhausted before permission would be granted to locate a mast in a built-up area.

This followed a motion from Cllr Níall McNelis (Lab) who sought the inclusion of an outright ban on the installation of masts ‘in the immediate proximity to residential areas, schools and healthcare facilities’.

Cllr McNelis said national legislation which said didn’t go far enough and in order to have sustainable communities, the City Council should take action to prevent the erection of masts too close to people’s homes.

“I think we need, in some way, to make a stronger statement on this,” said Cllr McNelis, adding that the regulations set down by Government stated that telecoms companies should seek other locations ahead of built-up areas, but this was not happening.

“It’s very open nationally, but at a local level we’re the ones making the decisions,” he said.

Ms Phelan said that there was a requirement on telecom providers to attempt to co-locate with their competitors and erection of such infrastructure should only take place what were likely to be more controversial areas when there was no other alternative.

“I can see where councillors are coming from in opposing these masts but you have to look at it from a national and government perspective. There is a set of guidelines and we have obligations to adhere to them,” she said.

The Senior Planner proposed that it would be possible to ‘embellish’ the national guidelines for inclusion in the CDP to insist that ‘such structures are only considered when all other options are exhausted’.

That included use of roof-top antennae and real efforts to co-locate with other telecoms companies, continued Ms Phelan.

Director of Services for Planning Uinsinn Finn warned that the passing of Cllr McNelis’ motion could have the unintended impact of obstructing vital communications infrastructure in the city.

“It is worth considering that a lot of the antennae are on public buildings – the HSE and local authorities use them and I’m sure you’d find them on City Hall,” said Mr Finn.

This comes as the controversy rumbles on over a telephone mast that was set to be installed at Drom Óir in Knocknacarra but was halted by a planning enforcement notice. A live planning application to recommence works is currently with city planners.

Cllr Donal Lyons (Ind) said there was a risk that there would be a ‘proliferation’ of these devices across the city and action must be taken to prevent that.

“We should be able to safeguard certain areas,” he added.

Councillors accepted that the national legislation would be incorporated into the Draft City Development Plan, as per Ms Phelan’s proposal.

That draft plan is due to come before councillors in September, after which it will go out on public display.