Unacceptable plan for giant mobile phone mast in Green Belt between Cleadon and East Boldon thrown out

South Tyneside Council’s planning department has refused a ‘prior approval’ application for land near Tile Shed Manor Farm, near both Cleadon and East Boldon.

Applicant MBNL Limited lodged an application earlier this year seeking permission to erect a telecommunications tower on a field near the junction of Tile Shed Lane and Cleadon Lane, and north of Cleadon Lane Industrial Estate.

This included a 30-metre-high “slimline lattice tower” with six antennas, four dishes, four equipment cabinets and ancillary development, including a 2.4m mesh fence.

A design, access and supporting statement submitted to council officials noted the lattice tower would “host telecommunications equipment for both EE (UK) and Three (UK)”.

Developers said the telecoms tower was “required” due to housing redevelopment proposals at an industrial estate to the south and the associated future “loss” of an existing telecommunications installation.

In this context, developers said “an urgent replacement site is required to ensure there are no holes in coverage and capacity”, with the telecoms site being moved from within the industrial estate to a field close to Tile Shed Lane.

Housing proposals from Avant Homes for part of Cleadon Lane Industrial Estate, near East Boldon, were rejected by South Tyneside Council’s Planning Committee at a meeting in March, 2025, leaving uncertainty over the future of the area.

Documents linked to the telecoms mast plan noted that “if the replacement [telecoms] site is not in-situ by the time the existing installation is removed, then the economic and social benefit loss could have significant ramifications to local residents and businesses.”

During a council consultation exercise, East Boldon Neighbourhood Forum noted the application represented a “second attempt to find a new site for the mast as the operators may eventually have to move from the existing site”.

The forum noted a previous planning application (reference number ST/0918/22/TPN) for a similar telecoms mast on the eastern side of Cleadon Lane had been refused, and then dismissed at appeal, on “siting and appearance grounds”.

It was argued that the application in the new proposed location would be “unacceptable in terms of siting and appearance” and that “other alternative sites within the industrial estate should be considered further if the mast has to be relocated.”

Councillor David Herbert, Cleadon and East Boldon ward councillor, objected to the plans raising similar concerns and said the application would be “unacceptable in terms of siting and appearance”.

Six public objections were also received during a council consultation exercise raising concerns about the need for the development, its location, biodiversity impacts, flooding, “visual pollution” and more.

One comment said planning permission being refused for housing to the south of the site “not only removes any urgency but should also negate the requirement for a replacement site too.”

Another comment said the proposed site for the telecoms mast sits within a local wildlife site (LWS) and that there was “no assessment made of the possible adverse environmental impacts of the proposal, in both construction and operation, on the LWS.”

After considering the planning application, South Tyneside Council’s planning department refused it on June 23, 2025.

Council planners said the planning rules surrounding “prior approval” applications meant that “any ecological impact matters are not a material consideration”.

It was also noted that “in terms of visual impact, siting of the proposed mast within the industrial estate is considered preferable to the currently proposed location and it remains the case that alternative sites on the industrial estate have not been sufficiently considered, noting the absence of any permissions for housing at the industrial estate”.

Council planning officers ultimately refused the plans on siting and appearance issues after “carefully considering the landscape and visual impact of the proposal from various viewpoints around the site”.

It was noted that the application site “occupies a prominent open countryside, green infrastructure corridor and Green Belt location which is of landscape and visual significance in providing a landscaped gap between the villages of East Boldon and Cleadon”.

In this context, council planners said the “substantial 30-metreheight of the proposed mast” and its “bulky design”, would be “highly visible” from several viewpoints and would “appear incongruous in the context of its open countryside location”.

It was argued that the mast would be “demonstrably harmful to the visual amenity of the locality” and that visual harm would be “further exacerbated by the proposed 2.4 metre high mesh panel fencing”.

The council decision report adds: “It is acknowledged that there are electricity pylons in the vicinity of the site.

“However, these are considered to be less bulky and more transparent in appearance than the proposed mast.

“Furthermore, the presence of these pylons in the vicinity is not in and of itself justification for the proposed mast.

“As stated above, the open countryside corridor within which the mast is proposed is of visual amenity value in providing visual separation between the villages of East Boldon and Cleadon and it is considered that the proposed mast would result in further harmful visual clutter in this corridor to the detriment of visual amenity.

“All of the above is in contrast to the above-mentioned existing mast which is very much viewed within the context of the existing Cleadon Lane Industrial Estate.

“Overall, despite the prominent location of the application site, it is not considered that the telecommunications equipment (the subject of this application) has been sympathetically designed and / or camouflaged.”

Council planners, in a refusal statement, concluded that the telecoms mast’s design and siting would “result in features that would appear incongruous and would give rise to visual clutter causing significant harm to the visual amenities of the locality”.

The council refusal statement added: “Furthermore, it is not considered that less visually harmful alternative sites for the mast on the nearby Cleadon Lane Industrial Estate have been sufficiently considered.”

The new development was expected to service “voice calls” as well as “provision for 2G/4G and new 5G data use” and coverage for “blue light services”.

Developers said the site would be partially screened by trees and vegetation and that the mast could be “finished in a colour that would further camouflage the structure within its surroundings”.

It was noted that the height had been “kept to a minimum” to “ensure that any visual impact is reduced where practicable, the antennas are structurally stable, and that continued/improved network coverage is provided to the local area”.

Although a number of alternative sites were explored, planning documents said, developers discounted these for a range of reasons, from limited space and impacts on residential amenity, to the lack of “sufficient coverage.”

For more information on the plan and council decision, visit South Tyneside Council’s planning portal website and search reference: 250265