An Bord Pleanála upholds Tipperary council's refusal of permission for Eir mast in New Inn
An Bord Pleanála has upheld Tipperary County Council’s decision to refuse planning permission for the construction of a controversial 15m high telecommunications mast in the heart of New Inn village.
council’s decision made in July 2021 to reject Eir’s planning application to erect the mast on the site of the Eir Exchange at Graigue New Inn was confirmed by the planning appeals board on Friday, September 1.
Eircom, trading as Eir, appealed the council’s ruling in early August 2021.
After investigating the appeal, An Bord Pleanála decided to uphold the council's decision because it considered the proposed mast would “seriously injure” the residential amenity of an adjacent house to the south of the Eir Exchange site.
In view of this, it said the mast would be contrary to the “proper planning and sustainable development of the area”.
The board’s investigator considered the house to be in “very close proximity” to the proposed site for the mast which according to the planning application would include antennae, dishes and associated telecommunications equipment.
An Bord Pleanála’s ruling will be welcomed in New Inn where there was very strong opposition to the mast.
Public meetings were held in the village when the mast application was going through the planning process in 2021 with local councillors supporting the concerns of local resident that the mast would be located too close to the village’s homes, businesses and national schools.
More than 60 objections and submissions were lodged with the county council in relation to the planning application during the public consultation process.
Eir, meanwhile, in a letter accompanying the planning application wrote that the mast was needed in order for the company to fulfil its requirement to significantly improve its mobile phone and broadband service provision to New Inn and to facilitate “site sharing” with third party operators from within its New Inn telecommunications exchange.