RESIDENTS have told how they are furious after a huge “monstrosity” 5G mast appeared in their village overnight.
Locals of Hazelrigg were shocked when the 59ft pole was erected after proposals for the structure were last year rejected by Newcastle City Council.
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But the decision was overturned by a Government planning officer and property owners are now worried the “eyesore” on Coach Lane will affect the value of their homes.
Ken Airey, 75, a retired wagon driver, said: “There was an objection and the next thing you know they’re building it.
“At first, they only put up two boxes and everyone thought that was fine but then they put the huge structure up.
“They could have put it in the field at the bottom of the village, I don’t know why they’ve put it in the centre.
“It’s right outside of people’s homes. Imagine living there and waking up to that and imagine the impact it has on house prices.”
Wendy Jewitt, 53, has deemed the tower a “monstrosity”.
The carer lives with her husband in their end terrace abode that is a few houses down from the mast.
She said: “It looks horrendous.
“It’s something you would put in a field not in the middle of a village.
“It doesn’t look right here. It’s absolutely useless, our signal was fine before it went up. We didn’t even need one.
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“It’s an eyesore, a monstrosity.
“When they erected it, they had to block the road off and out temporary traffic lights in. It was an absolute nightmare.”
Diane Airey, 55, lives opposite the huge tower and was shocked when she returned home to the sight of it directly outside.
She said: “It looks an eyesore. I didn’t even know it was going up and one day I came home and it was there, I couldn’t believe it.
“They could have put it somewhere more discreet than in the middle of the village’s main road.
“All the birds flock into it, it attracts them.
“When they were building it and closed the roads off I had to use another way out of the village, it was a nuisance.”
The pole was originally rejected by Newcastle City Council last year.
However, that decision was overturned by a Government planning inspector in June.
Locals have claimed they were completely unaware of the U-turn until contractors began erecting the structure in August – and that the last communication they had regarding the pole was via a letter informing them it would not go ahead after the initial objection.
Resident Catherine Moody signed a petition to prevent the tower from being built.
The 48-year-old financial officer, who lives adjacent to the mast in a semi, said: “My wifi worked fine before it went up, I’ve always had a decent speed and it hasn’t actually changed since it was erected.
“We get none of the benefits.
“I understand they’ve built it because there’s a new housing estate nearby and this is central to all of the homes in the area but putting it further down the road wouldn’t have made that much of a difference to the signal.”
‘IT LOOKS LIKE AN ALIEN’
Pensioner Norma White, 67 said: “It’s awful. It’s more the height of it than anything else.
“It looks like something from outer space. We have other street lamps and structures here but they don’t look like that.
“It was initially objected and we all got letters saying it wasn’t going up and then it just happened.”
Another resident, who didn’t want to be named, said: “It looks like an alien.
“We all objected to it but they put it up anyway. It’s a very nasty thing that’s happened to us, a very sad state of affairs.
“It’s an eyesore, they should have put it further down the road or in the fields at the end.”
One neighbour, who didn’t want to be named, said: “The planning had been rejected but it seems as though it was rubber stamped through when they re-applied.
“It seems to go against the council’s planning process and procedures.
“It was rejected because of genuine concerns from residents.
“We don’t know how it will impact the house prices here. It’s caused a grave loss of confidence in the council.”
A city council spokesperson said: “The application resulted in a number of objections, including Hazlerigg Parish Council, on the size and location of the mast and possible health impacts arising from the mast. All objections to the application were taken into consideration when the city council refused the application.
“We acknowledge that errors relating to notifying Hazlerigg Parish Council and uploading representations onto the application file did occur and we apologise. However, the planning inspector was made aware of the strength of opposition to the application, as the officer report includes a summary of grounds of objection and specifically references Hazlerigg Parish Council’s objection.
“The documentation accompanying the application demonstrated no known health risks associated with the proposed mast. The Health and Safety Executive are responsible for monitoring the impacts of telecommunication masts on human health.”
