Proposal for 4G mast in Local Hero village scrapped
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Plans to construct a 4G internet mast in Pennan have been thrown out.
The village, which featured in the movie Local Hero, had been mooted as a location to build the structure.
However, the proposal for the eight-metre mast was refused by councillors last year and the Scottish Government has now removed it from its Scottish 4G Infill Programme.
The pole was planned to be built next to the village's community hall in a conservation area.
Councillor Glen Reynolds said: "I am delighted that thanks to the Scottish Government, the proposal to have a phone mast in Pennan is now off the table.
"This was always an issue about where such a sizeable structure was placed in a relatively small and enclosed space.
"However, our coastal villages do need regeneration – especially now – and I agree with those who want measures taken to ensure that our coastal communities are dynamic, sustainable villages with properties that are lived in and with access to digital and mobile connectivity, empowering more people to live, stay and work from places like Pennan.
"With all of those issues, ultimately and in a post Covid world, Pennan has to be a welcoming, inclusive place capable of raising bairns and promoting business activity from home, and sharing in the idyllic surroundings our coast has to offer.
"But this proposal meant having a mast in a conservation area and I always felt it would dominate the landscape and was too close to the community hall, so I was against it.
"Many in the village have access to mobile phone signals and other technology through Wi-Fi and superfast broadband.
"Visitors and tourists need good communication too, so I hope that a way will be found to address this but a mast as planned, would have been overbearing.
"The village already has its iconic phone box – we didn’t need a phone mast to be a blot on the beautiful landscape that is Pennan."
