YOUR story (Anger over approval of phone mast upgrade, August 12), as well as revealing some misunderstandings about the planning process, committed two errors of fact: first, that the Buddle Lane mast has been ?approved? - it has not and does not need to be; second, that the Telecom Panel made a ?decision? to approve it - it did not, because no such decision was open to it. May I explain?
Cellphone masts generally do not need planning consent. Instead, operators must notify the Local Planning Authority (LPA), which then has 56 days to ?call in? a proposal if it feels that a full planning application should be required. ?Call in? is itself subject to criteria and is exceptional.
To meet the deadline, West Devon Borough Council invented a process, since widely copied by other LPAs as a model procedure:
1. the decision to ?call in? is formally delegated to the Borough Planning Officer (BPO);
2. a ?Telecom Panel? of four councillors is convened at short notice to give the BPO a steer.
In this case, the Telecom Panel, having found no valid reason to ask the BPO to require a full planning application, did not do so. The only decision we made was not to. The BPO made his decision on August 12, having considered all the representations made. For avoidance of doubt, the consultation period ended on August 10.
The misleading impression, viz that West Devon Borough Council makes decisions undemocratically before people have a chance to have their say, is quite wrong.
Our process ensures that not only do we have time to ?catch? all notifications that justify the scrutiny of a full planning application, but also that elected members can influence the decision to call in.
Cllr Roger W Mathew
Chairman
West Devon planning and licensing committee