Court rules Wychavon acted lawfully over Broadway poles
A judge has ruled Wychavon acted lawfully over the installation of telecommunication poles in Broadway.
The Lifford Gardens and The Sands Residents’ Association asked for a judicial review of the decision to allow Full Fibre to install 22 poles on The Sands estate in the village last November.
At a hearing at Birmingham High Court on 22 October 2024, the Association argued Full Fibre Ltd had not consulted the council properly and Wychavon had failed to use its powers to prevent the poles from being installed on the grounds they would cause ‘visual harm’ to the area. The poles were installed under permitted development rights, meaning they did not need planning permission. But the Association also argued Wychavon had failed to ensure the conditions required for the poles to be installed under those rights had been met and had not properly explained the reasons for allowing the installation to go ahead.
But in a written ruling issued on 19 November 2024, Deputy Judge Richard Kimblin KC dismissed the claim. He also refused the group permission to appeal the decision as it had no prospect of success and ordered they pay Wychavon £10,000 in costs. An application has now been made to the Court of Appeal for permission to appeal.
Judge Kimblin confirmed in his ruling there had been legally adequate consultation between Wychavon and Full Fibre, noting the ‘substantive enquiries and exchanges of information’ between the two.
The ruling also confirmed permitted development rights did not give Wychavon the power to prevent the poles being installed. The council’s role was shown to be limited as Full Fibre was only required to consult and notify Wychavon. Although conditions under the legislation were automatically imposed, it was then up to Full Fibre to ensure these were complied with. Where the operator did not comply, it was then possible for the council or OFCOM to consider taking enforcement action.
The Judge also found Wychavon had considered all the relevant criteria, including around visual impact, and had ‘provided clear reasons to explain why it accepted Full Fibre’s surveys and assessments’ that poles were needed.
Cllr Paul Middlebrough, Wychavon’s Executive Board Member for Planning and Infrastructure, said: “We’re satisfied the judge confirmed what we have argued all along, that we have no power to prevent poles from being installed or to force operators to use underground cabling.
“Ultimately though we take no pleasure from this ruling as we have sympathy with our residents. Giving permitted development rights to the installation of telecommunication poles has resulted in communities across the country having a blight imposed on them against their wishes, while councils are left powerless.
“We urge the Government to urgently review the regulations regarding the installation of poles and at the very least amend them, to make the sharing of underground telecommunication infrastructure mandatory.”