Full Town Council Meeting – April 23rd 2024
Spennymoor Town Council Full Town Meeting Order of Business - Meeting to be held April 23rd 2024
In July, Spennymoor Town Council considered an approach from a company called Shared Access Ltd, who are working on behalf of mobile phone providers to investigate possible sites within Spennymoor for the erection of a mobile phone mast. The favoured area was the Council Depot within Jubilee Park and Shared Access Ltd stated that they were willing to pay a fee of up to £40,000 to the Council for the lease of land and erection of a mobile phone mast.
The Council agreed to progress this idea in principle, as in a time of austerity obtaining £40,000 to reinvest into Spennymoor was an opportunity that could not be ignored. However, any decision would be dependent on the results of a public consultation, an independent valuation of the offer from Shared Access Ltd and a search through the archives to ascertain if there were any restrictive covenants on the land.
Following the commencement of the consultation, Councillors have been approached by residents living next to the park who are deeply concerned about the affects the mast will have on their lives, due to its size and proximity to their homes, and other park users who believe the mast will be a blight on, what I am sure everyone will agree, is a beautiful park and asset to the community. The independent valuation came back with a figure of £35,000 and a search of the archives has revealed that the Council will need permission from the original vendors of the land in order to erect the mast.
Taking all of this in to account the Chairman, Cllr Ian Machin, and Vice Chair, Cllr Clive Maddison, of the Council, using powers delegated to them at this time, have taken the decision to withdraw the Council’s support for the placement of the mast in Jubilee Park.
Cllr Ian Machin stated “whilst the Council have spent £375.00 on this exercise, it has been worthwhile to ensure that all relevant information was to hand in order that the Council could make a fully informed decision at the earliest opportunity.”
