Stop the 5G mast by Wallands Community Primary School
by
Viv Vignoles
Stop the 5G mast by Wallands Community Primary School
by
Viv Vignoles
Viv Vignoles
Case Owner
I’m part of a group of local residents campaigning against due‑process failures that allowed approval of an 18m 5G mast beside our primary school without sufficient evidence of public safety.
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Viv Vignoles
Case Owner
I’m part of a group of local residents campaigning against due‑process failures that allowed approval of an 18m 5G mast beside our primary school without sufficient evidence of public safety.
Our community is devastated by the sudden approval of this massive telecoms mast after multiple previous rejections by the council and Planning Inspectorate over the last 4 years. This week we are launching legal action on behalf of the community against the Planning Inspector's decision to permit this flawed development.
⚖️ The Case Overview
The Nevill Road 5G mast was built in 2022 without the correct planning permission. It has been refused retrospective permission three times between 2023 and 2025—twice by the local planning authority and once by the Planning Inspectorate. These properly made local decisions have just been overturned by a Planning Inspector relying on false information and against National Planning Policy Guidance on due process. We are submitting a Statutory Review to challenge this decision in court.
🚩 Why We Are Fighting
The installation sits directly outside Wallands Community Primary and Nursery School.
- Antennae positioned less than 20 meters from the school boundary.
- Outdoor play area for nursery children omitted from developer’s drawings but intersects with area defined as Public Exclusion Zone.
- Unpredictable health risks for local residents with medical implants.
- Huge, unnecessary eyesore inside the South Downs National Park.
- Developer failed to consider alternative options offering wider coverage for lower impact on the school, residents, and national park.
⚠️ A Catalogue of Planning Errors
- Initial approval for a 5G mast in this area was given in 2022 based on multiple pieces of false information, including a flawed safety assessment.
- A mast was then built in the wrong position and to the wrong design.
- Over 1,000 people signed a local petition demanding removal.
- Local planning officials consistently failed to engage with local concerns about the 2022 decision, which we believe to be null and void (legally: “vitiated”) since it was based on demonstrably false information.
- A retrospective planning application was REFUSED by Planning Applications Committee in 2023 on grounds of visual harm and DISMISSED at appeal in 2024 by the Planning Inspectorate on grounds of public safety.
- Local planning officials failed to enforce the 2023 and 2024 decisions.
- National Planning Policy Guidance states that only one retrospective planning application is allowed for the same development. But local planning officials invited a second retrospective application, submitted in January 2025.
- After several further iterations of this application during 2025, permission was again REFUSED by Planning Applications Committee in December 2025.
- Planning Inspector Claire Coles overturned the local council's refusal on 16 July. We believe her decision letter contains both factual and legal errors.
- Nearly four years after the mast was built, the developer has still not produced a set of drawings that accurately shows the mast’s surroundings, including the nursery school outdoor play area. Without this, they cannot certify accurately whether the location meets international safety standards.
⚡ How Your Funds Will Be Used
Local voices and public safety must not be ignored in service of corporate interests. We need to raise funds to cover our initial legal fees. Our initial target will contribute to the initial costs of launching the case, but we know that considerably more funding will be needed as the statutory review progresses.
Our Goals are:
- Paying for specialist legal advice and representation.
- Filing the formal court paperwork for the Statutory Review.
- Forcing the council to issue a formal stop notice.
- Achieving total removal of the structure.
This photo captures the mast looming from the house opposite, showing just how unsettlingly close it stands to family homes.
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