NFDC does not need to give Icon Tower Infrastructure Ltd permission for Fawley telecomms tower

SCALED-back plans to build a 25-metre telecoms tower near a Fawley playing field are set to go ahead.

Planners at New Forest District Council said the authority was not required to give its approval over the siting or appearance of the tower opposite Gang Warily Recreation Ground.

Manchester-based firm Icon Tower Infrastructure now has three years to begin construction of a 25-metre lattice tower, supporting up to six antennas, six ground-based cabinets and a meter cabinet, on land off Newlands Road.

As reported by the A&T, a previous application by the firm to build a tower on the land was rejected earlier this year on the grounds it should be built in a “more visually sympathetic and appropriate manner”.

In a letter, the applicant said the firm’s new application “seeks to address” the previous reasons for refusal.

It added: “The design of the proposal has been improved by the removal of the two headframes, the proposed six antennas are installed tight to the tower, and the lattice tower has been reduced in width to a more slimline design.

“Photomontages…show these alterations significantly reduce the impact on the character and visual amenity of the area.”

The applicant also noted its latest application was objected to by its commercial rival Cellnex, but added: “Cellnex has now made a considerable number of objections against applications made by Icon Tower nationally.”