Maidenhead & Windsor

Details of how the Royal Windsor and Maidenhead Borough will respond positively to future proposals for phone masts in the borough have been set out in a planning document adopted at the end of February.

The Windsor and Maidenhead council's Telecommunications Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) was formally adopted on February 21 as part of the Royal Borough's Local development Framework.

The document – which replaces previous supplementary planning guidance adopted in December 2000 – explains how the council will respond to proposals for telecommunications development in the future, while protecting both urban and rural areas from visually harmful development.

Cllr Derek Wilson, lead member for Windsor and Maidenhead planning, said: "The siting of phone masts can be a very contentious issue, generating concerns about both the environmental and visual impact in the surrounding area.

"As a local authority we have to balance the need to provide efficient telecommunications systems with the concerns of our residents about the appearance and perceived intrusive nature of some of these masts. This planning document sets out how we intend to achieve a mutually-acceptable solution."

The Supplementary Planning Document can be viewed on the Windsor and Maidenhead council's website at http://www.rbwm.gov.uk/ and also at council receptions at the Town Hall, St Ives Road, Maidenhead
and York House, Sheet Street, Windsor, as well as at all borough libraries.

Anyone wishing to object to the new planning document can apply to the High Court for permission to seek a judicial review of the council's decision to adopt the document. Any application must be registered by May 21 – within three months of the date of adoption of the document.

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead