Vodafone and O2 are moving to overturn Dundee City Council’s decision to reject plans for a mobile phone mast next to a Broughty Ferry primary school.
Parents of children at Forthill Primary School were vociferous in their opposition to the plan when it was first mooted, and will be dismayed that the telecom giants have now lodged an appeal with the Scottish Government.
The companies were refused permission for the 60ft shared mast on land south of the school in March after parents voiced concerns over the potential health risk to their children.
Papers submitted to the council in support of the mast application confirmed that the antenna complied fully with guidelines limiting the exposure of the general public to electromagnetic fields.
However, parents of children at the school remained unconvinced.
The council received 46 letters of objection to the planning application and a deputation from the school’s parent council attended the meeting at which it was rejected by councillors.
If given the go-ahead, the 3G antenna would be disguised to look like a timber telegraph pole and would be in the grounds of Forthill Sports Club, near the boundary with the school playground.
The mast and two ground-level equipment cabinets would be in a compound surrounded by a corrugated steel and timber fence.
The application had been recommended for approval by council officers on the basis that it met the requirements of the development plan.
However, councillors rejected the proposal on the grounds that the mast would be located in an area of public open space, that its scale and design would have an adverse effect on the outlook of the school and of properties in Forthill Place and Forthill Drive, that no satisfactory operational justification for the mast’s location and design had been submitted and that the companies had not demonstrated that the location and design were the most appropriate option.