A proposal for a 5G tower opposite a school has been withdrawn after a protest outside the gates and “310 signed objection letters”.

The plan to install a monopole on land near Ainsdale Road, South Oxhey, was submitted to Three Rivers District Council on March 7 and withdrawn this morning (April 4).

There are 16 objections on the Three Rivers planning portal, and two people who had gathered signatures outside St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, which is opposite the proposed site, claimed to have gathered 310 signed objection letters.

They had protested outside the gates after school wearing signs with slogans such as “5G not outside our schools”.

Three Rivers councillor Steve Cox welcomed the plan being withdrawn.

He said: “I think this is a victory for residents and parents. The site was wholly inappropriate.”

The Labour councillor added that the location was his concern with the plan, and he thought there were others more appropriate that could have been chosen.

The pole would have been 50 metres from the school and was described as “the smallest scale structure that can be deployed in this location and provide the required network coverage”, by a company on behalf of Vodafone.

Vodafone had apparently identified a “specific requirement” for improved coverage in South Oxhey.

In the planning documents it said: “It is not unusual for base stations to be located near schools and residential dwellings.

“Mobile base-stations are low-powered transmitters which means that they must be sited near to where people live and work in order for mobile users to receive good reception."

It added that 10 alternative sites were considered but, with a “lack of viable alternatives”, it was decided that there was no better option than the one that was proposed.

Objection letters called the 20-metre monopole " monstrous”, “intrusive”, and “excessive”.

Many of the objections also mentioned theories about a danger to people’s health from 5G technology.

The planning application provides a document outlining that “there is no cause for concern in regard to health”.

It highlighted that the World Health Organisation has to date found no adverse health effect has been causally linked with exposure to wireless technologies “after much research performed”.