Bailieboro mast appealed

The development of a 24-metre high mast near Bailieborough has been appealed to An Bord Pleanala by local residents.

A number of active appellants are attached to the On Tower Ireland Limited case, a decision for which is due to be decided by mid May 2024. They include Michael O’Neill and others; Sadie Smith; and Ciaran and Bernie Lynch.

Planning permission for the telecommunications support structure at Drumacarrow was granted by Cavan County Council just before Christmas with 12 conditions attached.

The decision was made only after significant further information had been received.

On Tower want to install the structure and enclose it within a 2.4 metre-high palisade fenced compound, together with associated ground equipment cabinets and site works. The firm first applied for permission back in August 2023.

However, their application was the subject of close to two dozen individual submissions, some of which were outright objections to the mast being built.

In its own submission, On Tower, argued the “technical justification” for the proposed installation.

It claimed that the main drive for the new site is to improve service in Greaghalough and the wider area.

“By not deploying a suitable site, a coverage blackspot, particularly 4G, for users in the areas will remain,” stated the company.

The local authority sought a redesign of the initial proposed development to reduce the visual impact of the development.

But local submissions, such as that signed by Sadie Smith, argued that the proposed development was unsuited to the rural location and is also located “on a road or laneway, which the council has refused planning permission for residential houses”.

They stated that, because of the width of the laneway, the development would “cause serious transport blockages and numerous other concerns”.