Plans in for 65ft-high 5G mast near Sunderland petrol station

Sunderland City Council’s planning department has received an application for land at the Foxcover Filling Station off Durham Road.

The plans from Atlas Tower Group are linked to a section of land on the corner of the service station site, next to the junction of Durham Road and Careen Crescent.

New plans for the site include the installation of a 20-metre ‘slimline monopole’ as well as antennas, transmission dishes and associated cabinets and equipment.

An applicant covering letter submitted to council officials states the location has been identified as necessary to meet “specific technical and operational requirements”.

Applicants said that the location would allow “the whole of the surrounding area to benefit from improved 5G network coverage”.

The covering letter states: “The proposed mast has been sited and designed in order to provide enhanced coverage and to support the existing mobile communications networks.

“At present it is paramount that digital connectivity is supported and maintained throughout the country.

“In particular the current massive shift in user demand from city centres and places of work to residential areas and suburbs requires an improvement in coverage and capacity throughout the whole network.

“The current proposal therefore seeks to provide such additional capacity to the network whilst still promoting new and improved technologies.

“Base stations use radio signals to connect mobile devices and phones to the network, enabling people to send and receive; calls, texts, emails, pictures, web, TV and downloads.

“Without base stations, mobiles devices and phones will not work”.

Those behind the scheme said that as mobile phones and devices become more popular, “more base stations are needed to ensure continuous coverage”.

The covering letter adds the new infrastructure would “enable the area to remain competitive and support the Government’s ambition for the UK to become a world leader in telecommunications technologies and development”.

A decision on the planning application is expected to be made by Sunderland City Council’s planning department later this year.

For more information on the plan or to track its progress, visit the council’s planning portal website and search reference: 23/01336/TEX