Brent Council issues statement after residents protest about 'ugly ' 5G mast installations

Church Lane, Kingsbury

Fryent Way, border Wembley/Kingsbury near Country Park entrance

 A local resident wrote to Wembley Matters:

"Hello... My family and I live in Kingsbury and not far from where the mast on Church lane is. We can also actually see it from our back garden as it is so tall. It is a monstrosity and a real eye sore. My family and I were never contacted over the installation of that 5G mast over the lockdown period. 

We've never received any letters or emails about it. You can imagine the shock when we saw it. It dominates the little corner shop area and towers over everything. We are really not happy about it and want it to come down. We are also worried about how this mast impacts on our health and our children's health. 

Companies cannot get away with doing things like that without proper consultation with the residents and the council. We would love to know who gave permission for it to go up and an enquiry into it please. Thank you."

A Brent Council spokesperson said:

“Planning permission was sought for both installations last year. Consultation was undertaken, with letters sent out and site notices put up.  The potential impacts of the installations were considered and planning permission granted. 

Government policy supports the expansion of electronic communications networks, including next generation mobile technology (such as 5G) and full fibre broadband connections. Legislation also allows for small scale apparatus to be installed as part of a deemed approval process. 

Under these rules the Council has limited control and must decide the case within a fixed time period. If the latter is not met this defaults to an automatic consent.”