On Tuesday 28th November, Mark and Alison joined a Teams call with various representatives from MBNL and Waldon Telecom about telecoms coverage in Chislehurst.
High Street car park site
We had an update on the temporary mast in the High Street car park and discussed the complexities of finding the “right” location for mast installations in Chislehurst.
After residents expressed concerns about the noise of the generator for the temporary mast, the existing generator will be swapped out and replaced with another, hopefully quieter, hybrid generator. Before the site goes live, there will be acoustic monitoring tests and we understand a new barrier around the generator to ensure the noise issues are addressed.
We do not believe this will happen this side of Christmas but will let you know when we do get a date; Waldon Telecom have promised to keep us in the loop.
The search for new sites
As you will recall, the temporary mast is needed to replace the mast that had to be removed from above the businesses at the front of Hornbrook House car park.
The applicant was unsuccessful in their appeal against refusal for a permanent mast in Hornbrook House car park itself, so the search for a new permanent site has now begun.
That search area is restricted in that it needs to be in reasonably close proximity to the mast that was removed.
We were informed of the many complexities in finding the best location in technical terms.
The need for good coverage is a must in the world we now live in; we all expect and indeed need to be able to get connected easily.
Many of you will know that Chislehurst is full of areas where signal is poor or even non-existent and the impact that now has on every day life should not be under-estimated.
This, of course, has to be balanced with the wishes of residents and respectful of our beautiful town, much of which is in Conservation Area; we do believe they understand that and we were advised how they have worked with heritage sites like Bath and Edinburgh to accommodate telecoms infrastructure.
Next steps
Waldon Telecom has promised to keep us engaged in their search process so that we can express our views.
We know there is no such thing as the ideal location in central Chislehurst and that whatever application comes forward, there is very likely to be some opposition. We will ensure we engage as appropriate with The Chislehurst Society. Again, that search process is likely to be developed in the New Year.
If you have any queries or comments about this, please do get in touch with us.
Cllr Mike Jack
Cllr Mark Smith
Cllr Alison Stammers
