Agenda item - Member Involvement

To consider the following matters raised by Members:

(a)           Petitions: To receive any petitions;

(b)           Written Questions: To consider any written questions;

1)    Samer Bagaeen – 5G Antenna

(c)           Letters: To consider any letters;

(d)           Notices of Motion: to consider any Notices of Motion referred from Full Council or submitted directly to the Committee.

8.1 The Chair invited Councillor Bagaeen to put the question to Committee on page 23 of the Agenda:

Westdene and Hove Park leaseholders at Park Lodge have again been subjected to a speculative application by the mobile operators to turn their homes into a giant 5G antenna. They feel let down by the Council’s lack of technical and planning guidance to support the delivery of digital connectivity infrastructure.

Would the Council therefore commission and prepare as a matter of urgency city plan guidance, as the London Plan team at the GLA is currently doing, covering all stages of digital connectivity planning applications and provide clarity on locations, expectations and requirements.

8.2 The Chair gave the following response:

The application at Park Lodge does not require planning permission. Instead, the proposed telecommunication equipment is being installed under a Regulation 5 application - an application under expanded permitted development rules introduced by the Government in April 2022. It means that prior approval by the Local Planning Authority (LPA)  is no longer required for this type of 5G proposal. In place of this, a Regulation 5 application is required giving the LPA 28 days to check the proposal falls within the size limits set for permitted development and advise relevant conditions.

In May 2022, new measures and advice were introduced to raise awareness of these changes. For example, Regulation 5 applications are included in the weekly list of planning applications which is sent to all ward councillors and available on the council’s website. Additionally, the website was updated setting out the new rules for telecommunications equipment. This included a link to a Mastdata map - Brighton & Hove is one of the first local authorities to introduce this. It shows all existing and proposed telecommunication equipment in the city. This allows officers to consider and encourage site sharing by operators, which is good practice. It also enables residents to see how many masts there are near to them.

Councillors can be assured that when planning permission is required, policy DM25 in City Plan Part Two is used to assess planning applications. Alongside other policies in the Plan, this sets a clear framework for assessing these types of planning applications. However, these can only be used when planning permission is needed.

8.3 The Chair invited Councillor Bagaeen to ask a supplementary question:

The mobile operators have a pipeline of hundreds of masts to be rolled out across the city. Will the Council commit to convene Officers, Mobile UK, the mobile operators, and their agents, to agree suitable sites in the city to support digital infrastructure?

8.4 The Chair agreed to send a written response to Cllr Bagaeen and all Cttee members.