Parents fight mast proposal (From Barry And District News)

Parents fight mast proposal

A BARRY community is still battling with bureaucracy to stop a mobile telephone mast being erected on their doorstep.

Cadoxton residents say they are furious that their plea to the Welsh Assembly to halt BT Cellnet from building a 40-foot structure in Church Road, has fallen on deaf ears.

And they have vowed to fight - with a little help from one of television's most famous faces.

Campaigner Sue Brophy, 45, who lives on Cassy Hill, said: "I saw an article in the national press where Eric Richard, who played Sgt Bob Cryer in The Bill, stopped a mast being erected on his local church.

"He put a call out for people fed up with aerials springing up around the country. We're hoping he can give us some tips on how to block this further."

The mother-of-two added: "What makes me angry is finding out that five other sites were turned down as being too close to residential properties. There's a school right on top of the hill and houses all around."

Locals had hoped the Vale of Glamorgan Council's opposition to the plans would initially help them win their appeal.

But although the authority cited the positioning and appearance of the apparatus as visually intrusive in a way harmful to the setting of the listed church, the character of the conservation area and its general amenity, the Assembly overturned it.

Now residents' only hope is if the telecommunications company tries to put the mast on church land, it could be prevented.

Rev John Humphries, of St Cadoc's Church, said: "Personally, I think having a mast sited here is insensitive to the area and the residents. They have only just been successful in getting an unsightly disused garage moved to improve this area."

Sue added: "If all else fails, we'll create a human chain around anywhere they try to erect this mast. We're determined to stop it from coming here."