PLANNING permission for a 27.5 metre phone mast in the Chalke Valley has created a division among villages with residents split over its benefits and the visual effect it will have on the area.

The decision for the mast - to be placed on land owned by North Hill Farm in Ebbesbourne Wake - was made by Wiltshire Council planning officers last Wednesday.

It did not go before the Southern Area Planning Committee because it was not called in by ward councillor Josie Green who said she had only received one or two objections against the plans.

Planning officers granted approval after finding the "current need and public benefits" for improved network signal outweighed the mast's impact on the site which is in the the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty(AONB).

The mast will provide coverage for all four mobile network operators - Vodafone, O2, 3 and EE - and is part of a government project to bring mobile network coverage to areas without any coverage. Its predicted coverage will enable 165 premises to receive network signal.

While the mast received support from Ebbesbourne Wake Parish Council, neighbouring parishes such as Alvediston and Bishopstone say they were not formally consulted on the plans despite residents living metres away from it.

Those against it say the mast is "huge, ugly, totally out of keeping with the area's status, and will be a permanent blight on the horizon". The AONB said its height was "excessively large" and wanted permission to be refused.

Those in favour highlight the "desperate need" for the area to be brought into the 21st Century of mobile reception with benefits ranging from a "fast response to accidents" to helping "vulnerable people breaking down in cars", and delivery drivers able to contact customers when lost as well as access to faster internet speed.

In commenting on the application Robin Rouse from Alvediston said: "The lie of the land and position of Ebbesbourne Wake village are such that the majority of residents would have no sight of the mast.

"However, the proposed tall structure would be very apparent from Alvediston and other locations south of the line of the mast."

Alvediston parish meeting chairman Robin Garran said: "Several of our residents will be able to see the mast from their front or back doors.

"In Alvediston nobody is against the idea of mobile coverage but the pre-application was for a 20-metre mast then they put it up to 27.5 metres.

"We had also been led to believe there would be more than one mast through the valley - we thought the one at Ebbesbourne Wake was one of a network. Instead, what they've gone with is a whopping great mast.

"People are also concerned about the lack of communication by a council which says that everybody matters."

Mr Garran said people believed the application was rushed through to meet a deadline for the project to be subsidised by government and that residents were now discussing the possibilities of appealing the decision.

The application for the 27.5m lattice tower with six antennas, two 0.6m dishes and six ground-based equipment cabinets within a fenced area was submitted by telecommunications company Arqiva. The company told the Journal it was unable to say when it would start or complete the mast.

Wiltshire Council granted planning permission subject to conditions including the development begin within three years, any lighting on or around the mast is agreed first with the council and within three months of it no longer being used, a scheme for the restoration of the site is submitted to and approved by Wiltshire Council.