Residents in Edinburgh's Juniper Green conservation area fight plans for 18-metre high 5G mast

Residents in Juniper Green are fighting plans to locate a giant 5G mast in the middle of a conservation area and taking up half the pavement on a designated “Safer Route to School”.

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Telecom infrastructure company Hutchison 3G wants to install the 18-metre high streetpole with three cabinets at the top of Baberton Avenue despite locals suggesting alternative sites.

Aonghas McIntosh, chair of Juniper Green and Baberton Mains community council, said people were shocked when they learned of the plans.

A mock-up by campaigners of what the mast would look like in the conservation area

“These things are massive and dwarf anything else in the village.

"The first we knew of it was when the pavement was dug up and some yellow marks painted on it; then notice was given to the playgroup and the primary school – not to the community council or any of the neighbours – saying they were going to build a 5G mast.

"It will take up a lot of space on the pavement. This is a Safer Route to School and the council have deliberately removed a number of railings on the same road, yet here we are putting these two- or three-metre cabinets in.

“And what's the point of being a conservation area and having that supposed protection for the architecture when this is seen as ok? It's just ridiculous."

Mr McIntosh said there had been more the 100 objections lodged against the planning application.

"The application itself mentions five or six alternatives in the area and discounts each of them on the basis of the density of the housing beside it – but the density is the same as where they want to put it.

"It's not that we're anti-5G or have a 'not in my backyard' mentality, we’re just saying they've taken a very easy option and there are better options that might cause them a bit more effort.

"There are huge green areas that aren't right beside somebody's house or primary school where this would be much less disruptive. They could put one or two of these masts on the outskirts of our village and provide the coverage we and the surrounding area need.”

Lothian Tory MSP and Pentland Hills councillor Sue Webber is backing the residents’ objections.

She said: “We all know we need the technology, but the site they've chosen is so ill-thought.

“It's right at the top of Baberton Avenue, which is the route people take to go to school. There's a lot of traffic there and it will reduce the pavement width by half. I just think that's not safe at all at a point where we've got so many young people. They need to find another location.”

She said she had told the developer's representative as soon as she saw the drawings that the proposed location was not suitable, but they were proceeding anyway. "They have not taken on that very early feedback and that's why there is so much resentment across the area."

Cllr Webber said two proposed masts in nearby Currie had had to be moved after similar objections. “Their position was going to be detrimental to pedestrians and accessing vital services.”

The Cockburn Association has also objected to the Juniper Green mast, saying it would detract from the special character of the conservation area.

Hutchison 3G have been contacted for comment.

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