5G phone mast refused planning permission after land ownership confusion

Councillors have refused permission for a 20-metre 5G phone mast in Monifieth following confusion over who owns the land.

An application seeking approval to build a mobile phone mast within a yard on Riverview Drive was lodged by EE and Hutchison 3G UK Ltd in March this year.

The proposal is a replacement for a 25m mast, which was removed from the grounds of the former Ashludie Hospital in November 2017.

A previously proposed replacement for Victoria Street, beside the former Ashludie Hospital, was refused back in 2024.

On Tuesday, the Riverview Drive application went before Angus Council’s development standards committee.

Council officers had recommended that the committee approve the application.

However, during the meeting, a potential issue regarding the ownership of the land emerged.

Addressing the committee, businessman Kenny Watson revealed he was in the process of purchasing the land from Angus Council.

This, he told councillors, was with the intention of building a padel court on the site.

He said: “Following a competitive bidding process, my sister company is in the final stages of acquiring this land, with legal completion expected shortly.

“The intention is to bring forward proposals for a new padel facility which will provide valuable sporting resources for local schools, community groups, and the wider Angus area.

“This is not a speculative aspiration. It is a genuine development proposal for land that is expected to come into my ownership.

“The planning and layout of a modern sports facility cannot be considered in isolation from a permanent mobile infrastructure compound positioned within it.

“This is not simply a question of losing 100 square meters of land, it’s about how the location of the compound restricts the design of buildings, vehicle access, pedestrian circulation, landscaping and efficient use of the site as a whole.”

However, planning officers detailed that land ownership is not a material planning consideration.

They also said the land was still under the ownership of Angus Council and no other planning applications had been lodged for the site.

Councillor Bill Duff said: “It’s a bit of a mess, isn’t it.

“We’ve got someone who says they’re trying to buy the land from the council, so the reality is the council will decide what’s going to happen.

“If it wants to sell the land to Mr Watson, it will do that. If it wants to sell the land to the mobile phone company, it will do that.

“But we’ve got a planning application in front of us, and the ownership of the land is irrelevant.

“We’ve got to determine the planning application and Angus Council will decide whether it wants to sell to party A or party B, but that’s a separate issue.”

“If you want to use a mobile phone, you’re just going to have to accept there have to be masts and this seems as good a location as any.”

However, Scottish Conservative councillor Craig Fotheringham led the call for the application to be refused.

He said: “There will be significant visual amenity impacts on the surrounding parks and residential area and neighbouring properties.”

Councillors voted to refuse the application, with two in favour, eight against and one no vote.