Delight at phone mast victory (From Watford Observer)

Delight at phone mast victory

1:45pm Thursday 19th October 2006

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Residents who campaigned to stop a mobile phone company putting up an illegal' mast in Barnet are rejoicing after it agreed to put it elsewhere.

O2 had applied for planning permission to install a six- metre mast in Chesterfield Road, next to Stanhope Road Open Space, and started digging a hole in the ground earlier this month.

But residents who knew Barnet Council had turned down O2's request in July saying it would be visually intrusive', blockaded the area and refused to let the telecommunications company and its partners through to install the mast.

The company said it had not received notification of refusal and was building the mast according to local authority regulations, but the company agreed to stop work and filled in the hole on the same day.

Following a meeting between the two parties on Wednesday, a council spokesman said: "O2 agreed to look for an alternative and more appropriate site for the mast."

Chesterfield Road resident and protestor Cathy Mehta said: "We are absolutely delighted. We were very shocked to see workmen going ahead and putting up a mast when we received so many letters in protest and one from the council saying it wouldn't go ahead because it had rejected it."

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