00:00 It's going to be a large metal structure and it's not going to look like a tree,
00:06 however much they want it to look like one.
00:10 [Music]
00:38 Anna, what were your thoughts when you first discovered that a foam mast was planned for the taped off area just to the side of us here?
00:44 Well, we were shocked initially. We found out from a Lancashire Post article online, so there was no notification to us.
00:54 You'd think something that is going to be visible from our garden would be notified by the council or the company,
01:01 and we just couldn't believe that someone was thinking that they could put a structure like this in an AONB.
01:09 An area of outstanding natural beauty.
01:11 Yeah, there's very strict guidelines that the local residents have to adhere to and other developers.
01:20 If I wanted to put a structure that big in my garden, it would definitely be no, I wouldn't want to. It would spoil it for everybody.
01:28 There's only going to be five trees removed from this very densely packed wooded area here.
01:33 The mast itself will protrude about 10 metres above the top of the tree line,
01:38 but when all's said and done, you won't notice it, will you, until you're right on top of it.
01:42 It's not going to be something in a dense wooded area like this that's particularly obvious, is it?
01:46 I think the opinion of the company of Cornerstone is that they're doing everything they can to hide it.
01:53 It's going to be painted green and the fencing's going to be green, but it doesn't fit in with the natural surroundings.
02:00 It's a completely jarring visual when you're coming up.
02:05 This is the main sculpture trail at Beacon Fell, and it's just beside the path.
02:09 There's going to be a huge hard standing, it's going to be a 10 metre by 10 metre enclosure with a generator.
02:15 Although it's painted green, the bottom of the mast is not going to be tiny, it's going to be a large metal structure.
02:25 It's not going to look like a tree, however much they want it to look like one.
02:30 Once the other trees have gone, it's going to leave the area quite open.
02:34 That's going to make it even more obvious.
02:38 Then there's the part that sticks up above the trees that's 10 metres, that's like a house on top of the trees.
02:46 It's the really ugly bit, the bit with the antennas.
02:51 Beacon Fell can be seen from all over the AONB, from Parlick Fell, Longridge Fell, it's what you can see and everyone will be able to see it.
03:01 What would you say to people who'd actually welcome better mobile phone reception and better broadband capacity in a rural area like this?
03:07 This is the main reason that Cornerstone have cited for placing the mast here.
03:13 Apparently the local communities are living in digital poverty but we're not, I can assure you.
03:18 Five years ago we invested in the Barn project which is the broadband for the rural north.
03:25 This is a project that has solved the broadband issue, we've now got the fastest broadband in the UK.
03:32 Even if we had 4G, a perfect 4G signal, it's still seven times faster than that.
03:38 Many people have said they want to be able to make emergency calls but there is phone signal.
03:43 We've just both made phone calls.
03:46 From the top of here there is phone signal, there's certainly enough phone signal to make an emergency call.
03:52 It's just not an argument, it's not worth spoiling the beauty.
03:57 It surely is the last green natural space left in Preston.
04:03 I can't think of anywhere else that is this unspoilt.
04:07 You may have invested locally as a community but isn't there an argument for saying that there needs to be a network structure that sits above that for nationwide capacity?
04:16 And areas can't really opt out of that, can they?
04:19 If that is what's required and that's what the government want, then they need to look for sites that are not within a protected area of outstanding natural beauty.
04:27 Beaconfell shouldn't have to take one for the team because they've decided that that's the only spot.
04:35 If there is an issue with reception and phone signal elsewhere, then maybe the mass needs to be sited nearer to where the issue is because the issue isn't here.
04:46 [Birds chirping]
04:56 Coming up here I've been flyering and talking to visitors.
05:00 Everyone that I've spoken to is horrified.
05:03 And unaware.
05:04 And unaware, yeah. There's been no notification.
05:07 The only notice was a tiny little sign stuck on a stick that's been shoved in the ground about three metres back from the path.
05:16 People haven't seen it.
05:18 The local residents haven't been informed.
05:20 And it almost feels like they're trying to sneak it past us and then it gets approved and there's nothing that we can do.
05:28 So I wanted to make sure that that isn't what happens.
05:32 And I know there'll be people who do want the mass and the people who don't.
05:35 And I want to just make people aware they can make their own decision when they've read the details.
05:41 Maybe they can come up to the site and see exactly what it's going to look like.
05:44 There isn't somewhere where you can come and get away from it all and Beaconfell is the place that you can do that.
05:50 And that's going to be taken away.
05:52 So the firm that wants to put this mast here, your message is they've got a fight on their hands.
05:56 I think they've messed with the wrong people really.
05:59 I think they've perhaps just had a look at it, not visited and not realised how special the place is.
06:06 And a lot of the local residents, the visitors, people who come here maybe once a month or some people come here daily to walk their dogs.
06:15 They're very passionate about Beaconfell and how it should be protected.
06:18 So I don't think this is a fight they're going to win.
06:23 [Music plays]
06:47 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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