A contentious battle between two telecommunications infrastructure providers has erupted over plans for the construction of a new 25-metre mobile phone tower on Gillwill Industrial Estate.

The battle has erupted after a planning application, submitted by Icon Tower Infrastructure Limited (ITIL), proposed the demolition of Cellnex's existing mast to make way for the new tower. The original application included a 30-metre lattice tower, antennas, and seven equipment cabinets at the tower's base.

The current owners of the existing mobile phone mast used to provide EE and 3Network mobile service in the Penrith area wrote to Westmorland and Furness Council to object to a planning application on land at Gillwilly road, on the Penrith industrial estate, where it currently has its own 15metre phone mast, that would mean a new mobile phone mast 30metres tall at the time of the original application would be built.

The planning application to construct a new replacement mast at the site on Gillwill industrial estate that is currently used to house a 15m monopole mast and aground based equipment owned by a company named Cellnex and used by EE and Three customers in Penrith for mobile services that has operated from the Gillwilly site for a number of years by the company.

The current mast at 15 metres is already visible over a wide area particularly from the surrounding hills including from the residential area to the north of Penrith towards Beacon Edge.

Under the plans, submitted by Icon Tower Infrastructure Limited (ITIL), the current 15metre monopole mast owned by Cellnex at the site would be demolished and a replacement would be constructed with a 30metre lattice tower and antennas plus seven cabinets located in the site around the base of the tower.

Cellnex said: “Our interest in this application relates to Cellnex UK’s ownership of an electronic communications base station at the application site that the applicant proposes to remove from the site as part of their proposal.

"This base station provides shared electronic communications infrastructure used by the Mobile Network Operators EE Limited and Hutchison 3G UK Limited (the brand 3).

"Our existing mast is a long-established structure and is fully in accordance with the planning policy and regulatory framework and which benefits from permitted development rights for relocation and redevelopment.”

Icon Tower said in its supporting information with the application that the existing mast owned by Cellnex "could not support necessary upgrades". And claimed that if the planning application was approved by the Westmorland and Furness council it would then use court orders to take over the site for its own mast to be constructed in place of the mast and equipment currently owned by Cellnex on the site.

When the application was first submitted in April by Info Tower to the council it was to construct a 30metre tall tower at the site, Penrith Town Council at the time approved no objections to the plans for a 30metre tower.

The applicant was asked by Westmorland and Furness Councils planners if the mast could be reduced in height. Subsequently the plans for the mast was reduced to 25m high.

Cellnex said  “The Icon application is advanced on a purely speculative basis and they do not have any customers to share their mast. A similar application by Icon, pursued on the same basis was recently refused within Durham County Authority area and the Durham Officer’s included as part of its refusal report included the application being speculative.”

“The application by Icon Tower Infrastructure Limited (ITIL) is presented as a replacement for Cellnex UK’s base station, although there have been no discussions with Cellnex about this proposal.”

Cellnex has emphasised that its “existing base station is not currently redundant, nor will it be redundant in the foreseeable future, and it is capable of being upgraded to deliver the improved 4G, and 5G services to local community.”

The company has also told Westmorland and Furness Council “should the Council approve the Icon Tower application then “Cellnex will exercise its discretion to remove the existing mast and relocate it in the locality in order to protect and maintain the vital public services it has provided from the site for a significant period of time.”

Cellnex also suggest the Local planning Authority does not have any planning powers to secure the removal of the existing base station should the Icon Tower application be approved as the Council would not be able to take enforcement action to secure the removal of the existing base station.

Cellnex made it clear to Westmorland and Funress Council they would defend any attempt to do so.

Icon Tower said it would not implement the development until it has obtained a court order for possession of the existing installation owned by Cellnex

Westmorland and Furness Council planning officers said “The applicant and Cellnex are clearly direct competitors in a market where the Government is keen to encourage such competition to drive public benefits such as better network coverage and lower prices.”

“The Council can make a proper determination on the material planning considerations Not the irrelevant matters raised by Cellnex, which are based upon commercial competition and land ownership concerns. It is other legal processes which will determine whether Cellnex will be entitled to retain possession under their existing lease, or whether the applicant will succeed in securing possession.”

“They will then be in a position to seek to reach agreement with Mobile Network Operators (MNOs). This will include seeking to negotiate deals with Cellnex’s existing MNO clients, EE Ltd and Hutchison 3G for them to relocate their existing or alternative equipment onto the applicant’s new mast facility. In that event, presumably Cellnex will have to vacate the site.”

“There is considered to be no planning reason to refuse a replacement mast, even of larger height and changed construction”

Westmorland and Furness council approved the application on by Icon Tower last week.

The company had stated it would take steps to take possession of the site currently operated by Cellnex if the plans were approved by the council.

It’s not known currently if the approval by Westmorland and Furness Council of the planning application could see EE and Three customers face reduced or lose mobile coverage in Penrith.

What do you think about the council approving plans for the site not owned by the company making the application?