Objections to new planning application for eir mast in Tipperary village

Eir has submitted another planning application seeking approval to erect a 15m telecommunications mast in the heart of New Inn village just five months after An Bord Pleanála upheld Tipperary County Council’s decision to refuse planning permission for a similar structure on the same site.

The new application seeking permission to build a “shrouded” mast with antennae, dishes and associated telecommunications equipment on the site of the eir Exchange at Graigue, New Inn. 

Eircom Ltd, trading as eir, submitted the planning application to Tipperary County Council on January 12 and is due to reach a decision on whether to approve, refuse or seek further information on the application on March 7.

The Council refused the company’s previous planning application seeking permission to erect a 15m “monopole” telcommunications mast in July 2021 on the grounds that it would have a negative visual impact on New Inn village and its visual amenities.

The council noted at the time that the mast site adjoins residential areas, amenity areas and was in close proximity to schools, the church and community buildings.

There was substantial local public opposition to the 2021 planning application with the Council’s Planning Section receiving more than 60 submissions and observations from local residents and politicians.

Eircom Ltd, however, appealed the council’s ruling and on September 1 last year An Bord Pleanála confirmed the local authority’s decision. The appeals board considered the structure would “seriously injure” the residential amenity of an adjacent house to the south of the Eir Exchange site.

In view of this, the board said the mast would be contrary to the “proper planning and sustainable development of the area”.

In his submission to the council on the latest planning application, Cllr Moloney has urged the County Council’s planners to uphold their previous decision that was subsequently supported by An Bord Pleanála and refuse planning for the mast on the grounds of the unsuitability of the site.

He argues in the submission that the mast was unsightly and would devalue the neighbouring property.

The Independent councillor outlines that planning applications proposing to erect masts on the site have caused “a lot of anxiety to the residents next door for many years”.

“New Inn is a progressive village with a Greenway from Cashel to Cahir and in close proximity to St Declan’s Way,” he continues in the submission.

“This (mast) would distract from the improvements that have been made in the village in recent years and an alternative site should be explored outside of the public realm of the village,” he adds.

The submission of Tomás McLoughlin, Principal of New Inn’s 118-pupil Scoil Mhuire Gan Smál, objects to the latest proposed mast on the grounds of its negative visual impact on the village’s two schools, homes, businesses and community facilities.

He also expresses serious concern about the health & safety impact the mast may have on the school’s pupils and staff.

He contends there is “no definitive proof” radiation from the mast will not have a detrimental impact on their health.