[UK-CONTEST] Planning Application doomed to failure in North Lincolnshire - latest news for your amusement

[Nick Totterdell]

Well, I guess you didn’t expect to hear any more of this.

 

If you don’t remember, I applied for permission to erect a raft of aerials
(160 vertical, 80m and 40m four squares and two telescopic towers with
monobanders)  in a one acre field in Lincolnshire and had a huge number of
objections and then managed to rally a large number of supporters – many
being radio amateurs near and far.

 

The planning application went before the full council planning board and a
speech in opposition was made by a local resident and also by the chair of
the local parish council. The application was rejected but three councillors
voted in favour. After the rejection I launched an appeal and in early
February the appeal inspector visited the site.

 

In the intervening time we have seen a house with a ¾ acre garden and unlike
the first house; my wife took a shine to it. As there were other buyers in
the frame, with us preferring this second house and the cost being lower and
as we didn’t expect the planning appeal to succeed, we bought this other
house – the house is very close to the sea at JO03ci and the garden is
surrounded by high trees - so towers will not be visible when retracted and
trees can be used to support wires.

 

Anyway, we have now heard that the planning appeal has succeeded – although
it’s a bit late for us to have the benefit of the decision.

 

The appeal decision made some interesting points including the comment that
the support of other radio amateurs should be taken into consideration, even
if they are remote, as the nature of the hobby is to communicate with remote
locations. The moral for this group is that on-line support of each other’s
planning applications should be encouraged as it is appropriate and can be
highly influential.

 

This decision can certainly be used a precedent to cite in future
applications. I have sent the full document to Len who will hopefully be
able to refer to it in future planning appeals for the RSGB. If you would
like a copy of the pdf file then please contact me direct.

 

So thanks again to all of you who supported the application. Please be
prepared to do this again for others. Hopefully I will be QRV from
Lincolnshire before long but perhaps not with the same aerials as I had
hoped.

 

I have decided not to start a planning application for the new house for the
time being but may have to do this in the near future – but probably only
after we have settled in.

 

73 and thanks again, Nick G4FAL