Council blunder allows controversial 5G mast to be built next door to a children's nursery on Milton Keynes estate

MK City Council has apologised for a “human error” that has allowed a towering 5G mast to be built next door to a children’s nursery on a city estate.

Council officers, along with local residents, had opposed the application from a telecommunications company to build the mast at the entrance to Old Farm Park, on land at Britten Grove.

Residents were concerned about its proximity to the nursery and also homes, and said it failed to fit in with with supplementary planning guidance.

The council’s highways officer raised concerns about the suitability of the roadside site, which is at the end of a non-dualled element of Tongwell Street (V11) beyond its junction with Bletcham Way (H10). This is within a transport corridor safeguarded under Plan:MK

The application was intended to seek prior approval and it had a fixed timeframe of eight weeks. importantly, if a council fails to respond during this timeframe, the applicant gets automatic permission called ‘deem consent’.

In this case, MK City Council’s response was delivered one day after the eight week deadline, it has been revealed.

This means the telecommunications company now has a legal right to go ahead and build the mast on the site. Residents have been it is due to be installed next week, on June 26 – and they are furious.

One resident described the error as “huge” and said: “I believe all MK residents have the right to know the incompetence of the council relating to this application, especially as it could happen again with other 5g mast applications.”

This week the council has apologised and admitted the error – and assured people it won’t happen again.

A spokesman told the Citizen: “We’re very sorry for this human error, made by someone who no longer works for us, and we have changed our processes to make sure it can’t be repeated.”

Applications to erect 5G

But masts are now commonplace in Milton Keynes and very often meet with disapproval from residents when they are on city estate sites.

But the telecommunications companies say the structures need to be sited where people will be using the service and in precise locations to ensure the widest breadth of coverage