12m tall masts ‘exempt from planning permission’

A Cavan county councillor is calling for the law to be reviewed around planning permission for mobile masts. The call comes as the executive of Cavan County Council confirmed that 12M masts, which are being erected in town centres, in some cases close to houses, do not need planning permission.

Director of Services, Brendan Jennings, addressed the issue at the May meeting of Cavan County Council in the Courthouse on Monday afternoon.

His confirmation came after Cllr Sarah O’Reilly (Aontú) questioned developments in recent days where residents in Bailieborough and Scotshouse had stalled the installation of masts in their areas. Cllr O’Reilly told Mr Jennings that she took issue with the news and said it was clear that planning laws in Ireland favoured corporations “not the ordinary person”.

“We have young people in this county seeking planning permission to build a house and they face nothing but stipulations around the type of a house they can build, where they can build it, etc, etc,” she fumed. “There is now a situation with a mast in Kingscourt and, while it’s huge, it is probably 12m or less, and that is why it’s there.

“I want Cavan County Council to deal with this matter. There is obviously a loophole in the law and it needs to be closed. It’s just not acceptable and we need to write to Minister Darragh O’Brien about this.”

Meanwhile, Mr Jennings said that the mast Cllr O’Reilly referred to, was less than 12m and therefore “exempt from planning”.

“These are going up at Eircom Exchanges across the country,” he added.

Such infrastructure upgrades are classified as exempt under Class 31 of the Planning and Development Regulations.

Concluding the discussion, Cllr Brendan Fay (Independent) highlighted his support for Cllr O’Reilly’s motion on the matter.

He added: “In our town, they came in sneakily on Sunday morning last when everyone was asleep and put up the mast. We have no permission to take it down and it’s an absolute disgrace.”