Following discussion and public consultation last year, Exmoor Park have now received a planning application to attach 4 mobile phone antennae on the tower of St Mary’s Church in Luccombe along with the installation of equipment cabinets internally within the bell ringing room and ancillary development thereto.

The application can be viewed on the National Park website and you have until 13th February 2020 to submit any comments regarding the proposed installation. These can be submitted in writing, via email or by logging into the website here: planning.agileapplications.co.uk/exmoor/application-details/21236 the comments will be available to view on the website.

The proposed mobile antennae will be camouflaged to fit in with the architecture of the church. You can read more about this in our previous blog post. The Chairman of Luccombe Parish Council has written the following in support of the proposal:

“As Chairman of Luccombe Parish Council I write in support of this application on behalf of the Council. Luccombe currently has no mobile telephone signal and is therefore denied all the benefits of mobile phone connectivity.

“The proposed antennae will provide that connectivity by delivering the security, social, educational, recreational and other informational advantages that modern households and business expect and which have become as much a utility as water, electricity and a landline telephone system. Such connectivity is vital, particularly in relatively remote rural area like Luccombe that are suffering population decline, ageing and a loss of work opportunities and low social mobility.

“British Telecom has failed to invest in telecommunications infrastructure in Luccombe meaning telephone and broadband quality and speed lag seriously behind areas where they have invested.

“The proposed installations will be an opportunity for Luccombe to have 21st century communications. Luccombe is a popular area with visitors so tourists, walkers, cyclists and horse riders in the vicinity will also benefit from the security and connectivity that will result from the availability of mobile telephone.

CSNET and the Church of England have gone to great lengths to ensure the antennae are unobtrusive and blend into the fabric of the church spire on which they will be sited.”

Don’t forget to have your say before 13th February and we will keep you posted with any news of the application as it happens.