BARRY Town Council planners have voiced strong opposition to Vodafone’s proposal to install a “mock telegraph pole in a Marine Conservation Area.

Vodafone Ltd has lodged an application for the pole, supporting shrouded antennas, transmission dishes, and equipment cabinets on the footpath at Bron Y Mor at the entrance to the Knap gardens and lakeside.

The proposed installation is opposite commercial cafes and restaurants – and opposite The Bridge Café which was previously consider until underground features made that proposal unviable.

Vodafone told the Barry & District News, at that time, it would look at other nearby viable options.

Hundreds of residents had opposed the option.

The report, put before the Barry Town Council planning committee on Tuesday, July 18, said: “Whilst it is acknowledged that there is a need to provide improved coverage and since the last consultation it proposed to appear similar to other street furniture (mock telegraph pole), the town council remain concerned about the proposed siting which it considers would harm the character and appearance of the Barry Marine Conservation Area, be visually intrusive in a well-established residential area and would cause harm to the setting, attractiveness and viability of the nearby cafes/restaurants.”

A Vodafone spokeswoman said Vodafone and O2 customers expected to use their mobiles and devices where they live, work and travel.

She added: “Base stations are low powered devices which cover approximately half a mile in radius, therefore we have to put base stations close to our customers. Vodafone and O2 identified that they need to improve the coverage to their customers in Barry and proposed a base station at The Knap.”

Glyn Pooley, of Highfield Road, Barry, who organised a petition against the former mast proposal, said: “It’s in the wrong position again. Highly visible at the gateway to a green flag park in a conservation area. Vodafone's total disregard for the needs wishes and feeling of the local community for their own private gain is astonishing. If they want to satisfy their customers, place reception boosters in their customers’ property. It is selfish and unmindful to inflict their mast on the community for their private gain. They can find a less visible and more considerate position if they need to erect a mast. Large numbers of the community are against this positioning.”