Out-Law News 1 min. read

Dover council rejects plans for high-speed trading masts


Two separate applications for planning permission to construct electronic communications masts over 300 metres in height have been rejected by Dover District Council's planning committee.

The committee backed the recommendations of planning officer Andrew Somerville that the applications, brought by telecommunications companies New Line Networks and Vigilant Global, be refused, Bloomberg reported. In his reports, Somerville said that the masts would impact on "heritage significance, landscape character and appearance of the area" (36-page / 268KB PDF), particularly if both applications were granted.

The sites covered by the applications are within one mile of each other at Richborough in Kent, close to the English Channel. The planned structures would be used for high-speed trading, transmitting financial data between London and the European mainland.

Vilgilant's proposal for a 305m tower at Kings End Farm, Richborough, was rejected by nine votes with one abstention, Bloomberg reported. New Line Networks' proposal for a 322m tower at the site of the former Richborough power station was unanimously rejected.

The traders could, however, appeal the council's decision to the secretary of state under section 78 of the 1990 Town and Country Planning Act, according to planning law expert Iain Gilbey of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com.

"An appeal is normally determined by a planning inspector on behalf of the secretary of state, but the secretary of state can recover the appeal and make the decision in certain circumstances," he said. "This could potentially happen here as one of the circumstances is that the proposal is of major importance having more than local significance."

The success rate for such appeals is usually around one third, although success is more likely where an inquiry is held, Gilbey said.

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