Westerham voted 67% to 33% for a 20m phone mast at King George's Field, and businesses 78% to 22%. The town council has agreed to move to the next stage.

Westerham has voted in favour of a 20-metre mobile phone mast at King George’s Field. Of those who took part in the town council’s advisory vote, 67% said yes and 33% said no. (Westerham Town Council, Community Vote: Telecom Mast results)

Businesses backed it more strongly, by 78% to 22%. The town council has agreed to move to the next stage.

The result

The council published the figures in a short press release dated 7 October. (Westerham Town Council, press release)

  • All votes: 67% yes, 33% no
  • Business votes: 78% yes, 22% no

The release does not say how many people voted. It says only that “following discussion, it was agreed to move to the next stage of the process” at a council meeting.

Bar chart of the Westerham mast community vote: all votes 67% yes and 33% no; business votes 78% yes and 22% no. The number of votes cast was not published.
The advisory vote result. Chart by Sevenoaks Online
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Why the vote mattered

Planning permission was never the obstacle. Sevenoaks District Council ruled on 10 September that it did not need to approve the mast’s siting and appearance. That left it free to go ahead under national permitted development rules. (Sevenoaks District Council, 26/01941/TELNOT)

The land belongs to Westerham Town Council, so the mast also needs its agreement as landowner. The council opened the vote in mid-September and closed it at 3pm on 2 October. Residents of the parish aged 13 or over could take part, and each business in the parish had one response. (Westerham Town Council, Update and community vote)

The plans, from Icon Tower Infrastructure Ltd, are for:

  • a 20m monopole next to Westerham Bowls Club, off Costells Meadow
  • 12 antennas and two transmission dishes
  • ground-level equipment cabinets inside a fenced compound

The council says residents and businesses have reported unreliable mobile coverage in the town. Visitors have struggled to pay for parking by phone.

What happens next

The release does not say what the next stage involves. When the vote opened, the council said any go-ahead would depend on legal and contractual arrangements with Icon Tower being completed. It has not said when that might happen, or when the mast could go up.

The district council received 17 objections when it consulted on the plans. Their concerns included the mast’s height, its effect on views across the Kent Downs National Landscape and its use of community space. Our earlier report sets out the objections, the officer’s reasoning and the alternative sites that were rejected.

You can read the mast application and drawings on the council’s planning portal. To check other plans near you, see our guide to Sevenoaks planning applications.

Sources

Image: King George’s Field, Westerham, by Robin Webster, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Geograph. Chart by Sevenoaks Online.