Phone mast site is approved in spite of protests

BOOST TO DARTMOOR CONNECTIVITY

- By GUY HENDERSON

A NINE-YEAR search for a site for a new phone mast on Dartmoor has come to an end.

Dartmoor National Park Authority has given the go-ahead for a new mast at Buckland-in-the-Moor, near Ashburton, which will improve emergency services coverage.

A meeting of the authority's development management committee heard that the new mast at Challamoor Field would also boost broadband in the area. The decision had been delayed by a site visit and extra public consultation.

A number of members criticised the consultation carried out by the Home Office and its agents, which in its early stages did not include villagers in Buckland.

Norman Gillon, of EE, apologised for the oversight.