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Mobile phone tower plan for Aonach Mor mountain to improve EE coverage

EE is planning to erect a 115ft tall mobile phone tower in Leanachan Forest on Aonach Mor, near Nevis Range.
EE is planning to erect a 115ft tall mobile phone tower in Leanachan Forest on Aonach Mor, near Nevis Range.

Plans are afoot to build a mobile phone tower on an iconic Scottish mountain.

The 115ft-tall mast on Aonach Mor would serve the EE network.

A planning application to Highland Council seeks permission for the structure to sit a mile north-east of the top gondola station.

Sitting on Forestry and Land Scotland ground, the tower will not be visible from Nevis Range.

The Nevis Range gondola carries people half way up Aonach Mor, the eighth highest mountain in the UK.

The ski resort is popular with sight-seers, walkers and mountain sports enthusiasts, from mountain bikers to snowboarders.

Designed to blend in with its surroundings in Leanachan Forest, the tower will be painted green.

For a sense of scale, it is the same height as a London building which made headlines last year. Sky Pool was the first suspended swimming pool is the world.

The pool is suspended at a height of 115ft from the ground between two residential blocks.

Enhanced 3G and 4G coverage

Meanwhile in the Highlands, the structure of the same height will provide enhanced coverage for 3G and 4G services.

Donald Paterson, team leader of Lochaber Mountain Rescue said: “Considering I have just changed to EE because it has the best coverage in Lochaber I am maybe a bit biased.

“EE have been investing by developing on existing masts and doing their own. There are still blank spots but it has massively improved recently.

“From the rescue side of things it could help people in distress.”

But the need for the tower to be placed on such a stunning landscape has been questioned.

The planning statement from agents WHP Telecoms says it will improve coverage in the PH33 postcode area.

This includes Fort William, Corpach, Banavie, Onich, Kingairloch, and Crofts of Sallachan.

Why choose this site?

John Fotheringham, chairman of Spean Bridge, Roy Bridge and Achnacarry Community Council, said: “We may ask the applicant for further information on the visual impact from various locations in our area.

“I am intrigued why the applicant has chosen this particular site as there are masts on other hills less visually attractive.

“He claims that the mast will benefit PH33 residents none of whom live in our extensive community council area.”

The hydro scheme on Aonach Mor.

At 4,005ft Aonach Mor is the eighth highest mountain in Britain.

It is 10 miles from Ben Nevis, the tallest, which towers over the town of Fort William at 4,413ft.

And on Aonach Mor the gondola carries people 2,133ft of the way up.

The mast is adjacent to a hydro power station.

Hydro scheme powers Nevis Range

Since 2017, the hydro scheme has been providing much of the resort’s power. It was sold in 2019 with Nevis Range, the main shareholder, receiving just short of £1m.

The proposed tower on land adjacent to the hydro station is designed so that it can also be used by other network providers.

EE is seeking planning consent for a mobile phone tower on Aonach Mor.

Details are provided to the local authority by Damian Hosker, principal planner for WHP Telecoms.

He writes: “In this case there are no other masts or buildings that the proposal could co-locate on, and it has been sited to minimise its visual effect on the wider character of the area.”

The proposal is north of the boundary to the Ben Nevis and Glen Coe National Scenic Area (NSA) and the Ben Nevis SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) conservation area.

Ben Nevis.

It is also just north of Wild Land Areas (WLA) Rannoch, Nevis, Mamores and Alder.

Although the development is not within these areas, designers claim it has been chosen to minimise detraction from these natural heritage assets.

The closest main road, the A82 Inverness to Glasgow, is 1.4 miles away.

It is claimed visual impact from this would be diminished due to vegetation, distance and slight variations in topography.

‘Visual change is being minimised’

Mr Hosker continues: “It is accepted the scheme would qualify as a visual change, but it is also needs to be accepted that the proposal has sought to minimise visual detraction from the wider character of the area.

“It is considered that, on balance, the provision of the scheme as detailed would have a suitably limited effect on the wider landscape character and habitat of the area, with any perceived harm being sufficiently outweighed by the considerable benefits for the wider public, and deliver on the need for digital coverage in the area.”

Highland Council is due to make a decision by November 22.

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