A Dundee landlord has hit out over a huge 20-metre mast just yards from the front door of his pub.
The mast and a large cabinet were installed outside the Craigie Bar – formerly the Cutty Sark – on Kingsway East this week.
Graham Bradley, who runs the bar, claims he was never told about plans to install the mast.
Although communications firms must notify the council, most masts like these do not need planning permission.
Graham fears the positioning of the mast will put an end to the beer garden he has outside in the summer.
He said: “I took over the bar in January 2022 and spent £100,000 renovating it before opening in June last year.
“I have got the pub looking great inside and outside, and now this mast has been put up on the pavement right at the front door.
“I received no notification at all from anyone, including Dundee City Council – who I lease the building from – that this was to be sited here.
Mast outside Craigie Bar ‘leaves no room for beer garden’
“The mast leaves no room whatsoever for the beer garden to happen in the future.
“The beer garden was hugely popular for many months over the summer.
“It will cost be thousands in lost revenue if I can’t have that again next year.”
Bar manager Janine Plummer said: “We had great plans to make the outside of the bar look fantastic for Christmas.
“Now there seems to be no point at all on spending money on decorating it with this mast right at our door.”
Janine also fears the mast will prove to be an obstacle for those using the pavement.
She added: “If someone parks their mobility scooter outside the pub, there will no longer be any room for anyone to get past if they are pushing a pram, for example.”
The mast – one of dozens across Dundee that the local authority has received notice of this year – was installed by Clarke Telecom on behalf of mobile telecommunications operator CK Hutchison Networks (UK) Ltd.
A letter sent to councillors for the area in March this year said: “As part of CK Hutchison Networks (UK) Ltd continued network improvement programme, there is a specific requirement for an installation at the pavement verge of Kingsway East to ensure that the latest high quality 3G and 4G service provision is provided in this area of the Pitkerro.”
Height of 20m mast ‘essential to ensuring 4G and 5G coverage’
And it added: “The proposed height of up to 20m is essential in order to ensure the latest 4G and new 5G technologies are provided in the Pitkerro area.”
The developer considered six other sites in the area but discounted them for various reasons – mostly relating to “the close proximity of nearby properties” and concerns the equipment would be “visually intrusive and negatively impact the residential dwellings”.
A Dundee City Council spokesperson said: “Mobile phone masts do not generally require planning permission, instead developers are required to notify the council in advance of their intention to erect a mast.
“The council was notified of this mast in June of this year.
“Officers are looking into the matter raised regarding the neighbour notification.”
5G ‘vital’ for residents of Dundee
A spokesperson for the developer said: “5G rollout is vital for residents and businesses of Dundee. We want to offer the community a reliable network experience and this new site will be critical to making that happen.
“While we try to keep mast sites as unobtrusive as possible, they need to be situated where people will be using the service and, in many cases, in precise locations to ensure the widest breadth of coverage. We have used the latest, slimmest design pole in order to reduce visual impact.”
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