17 March 2021

Planning Application: Mast on the Pavement at the Esso Garage

There has been a recent application to install a 20m high monopole at the junction of London Road and Honor Oak Road, with cabinets on the pavement. Details of the application can be found on Lewisham Council website.

The Forest Hill Society has opposed this application:

We note a number of recent refusals for masts on similar pavement locations in the local area, most recently and locally DC/20/118720 at BLYTHE VALE, BELL GREEN AND PERRY VALE, SE6.

We believe the reasons for rejection of that application are equally applicable to this location that is within the Forest Hill Conservation Area and on an important pedestrian route between Forest Hill station and town centre, and the Horniman Museum.

The siting and appearance of the monopole would give rise to an overly dominant and highly visible development and the proposed cabinets would result in a visually cluttered streetscene out of keeping with local character of the area when viewed from London Road and the Forest Hill conservation area. The siting of the development would narrow the footway with the potential to impact pedestrian safety at a difficult crossing point and junction of the South Circular road.

This junction is not an easy crossing for pedestrians as there is no pedestrian phase on the lights, and the addition of cabinets and masts in this location will further obscure the sight of cars turning the corner on this busy junction.

We welcome the installation of 5G infrastructure around Forest Hill, but this should not increase street clutter and make pedestrian crossings more dangerous. There are a number of more suitable and less prominent locations for such a mast including council owned car parks and we hope that the applicant can work with the council to identify such locations.

[This application was refused by Lewisham Council]


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