Steve H wrote:


Simple Gareth, buy a scam mast, less than 12 foot tall so no planning
problems. even Liz might approve...

Not so, GPDO 1995 states that structures (masts and antennas) under 3m
(~9'9") do not require planning permission, if sited at least 2m (~6'6")
from any boundary, and at least 5m (~16'3") from a neighbours building.
This is modified to the height of your ridge line (not chimney)
visible by an average sized adult standing on the pavement at the front
of your dwelling, if you have the structure attached to one of the
existing walls of your property (not the front wall visible from the
pavement). Exclusions are made for non-commercial antennas that are
similar in size to a Broadcast TV Antenna & Mast, which may be erected
on the chimney (I've had a 2 ele 6m beam on a rotator excluded under
this provision).

At my last QTH, I had no planning permission for a ground mounted
Butternut HF9V, the Planning Enforcement Officer that made a visit, said
that an application was not required as it was under 4m tall (~13'0")?!?

I'm still within the area managed by the same Planning Authority, ;-)

M5WJF

wrote:
Steve H wrote:

Simple Gareth, buy a scam mast, less than 12 foot tall so no
planning
problems. even Liz might approve...

Not so, GPDO 1995 states that structures (masts and antennas) under 3m
(~9'9") do not require planning permission, if sited at least 2m
(~6'6") from any boundary, and at least 5m (~16'3") from a neighbours
building. This is modified to the height of your ridge line (not
chimney) visible by an average sized adult standing on the pavement at
the front of your dwelling, if you have the structure attached to one
of the existing walls of your property (not the front wall visible from
the pavement). Exclusions are made for non-commercial antennas that
are similar in size to a Broadcast TV Antenna & Mast, which may be
erected on the chimney (I've had a 2 ele 6m beam on a rotator excluded
under this provision).

At my last QTH, I had no planning permission for a ground mounted
Butternut HF9V, the Planning Enforcement Officer that made a visit,
said that an application was not required as it was under 4m tall
(~13'0")?!?

Sounds like when he actually saw it, he realised it wasn't worth
bothering about after all. Since he couldn't change the law for you, he
re-valued the metre instead.

Actually Planning Officers have more discretion about "minor
developments" than they will readily admit to. By going in for an
informal chat, and taking along some mocked-up digital photographs
showing what the proposed antennas would look like, I got a letter
formally stating that my small crank-up mast and VHF yagis would not
require planning permission.

The Planning Officer came out with a big multi-part ring binder
(something along the lines of "How To Become A Planning Officer In 26
Weekly Instalments"). This had a whole chapter on amateur radio
antennas, including photos of masts and antennas that had received
planning permission, and even bigger ones that had gone through on
appeal. After he had compared those with my own modest proposal, he
became much more co-operative.

Your experience may vary, but an informal preliminary chat with the help
of some mocked-up images can never do any harm.


--
73 from Ian G3SEK 'In Practice' columnist for RadCom (RSGB)
http://www.ifwtech.co.uk/g3sek

Ian White, G3SEK wrote:


Your experience may vary, but an informal preliminary chat with the help
of some mocked-up images can never do any harm.



Yes, the very approach I'm considering for two masts in the garden, one
at 20ft to support one end of a 180ft doublet, and the other at 30ft to
support some VHF/UHF antennas, a 2.4GHz fixed dish towards an VHF NFD
Contest Site (line-of-sight at 23Km!), and I'm also considering another
Dipole or Inverted-V for HF.

The 20ft mast will shadow an existing BT telegraph pole (had thought
about using it!), and shouldn't be a problem in terms of planning or
interference (well my telephone isn't connected to it), but the 30ft
mast will have to be a wind up design as I want to experiment, and
because I'm a long way down the rear garden, it could be 60ft tall and
still wouldn't be seen from the pavement at the front of the house.
30ft or 40ft would be ample here as I'm on a hill anyway, and shall only
initially be using two small beams on a rotator, for 2m and 23cms.

M5WJF

wrote:
Ian White, G3SEK wrote:

Your experience may vary, but an informal preliminary chat with the
help of some mocked-up images can never do any harm.


Yes, the very approach I'm considering for two masts in the garden, one
at 20ft to support one end of a 180ft doublet, and the other at 30ft to
support some VHF/UHF antennas, a 2.4GHz fixed dish towards an VHF NFD
Contest Site (line-of-sight at 23Km!), and I'm also considering another
Dipole or Inverted-V for HF.

The 20ft mast will shadow an existing BT telegraph pole (had thought
about using it!), and shouldn't be a problem in terms of planning or
interference (well my telephone isn't connected to it), but the 30ft
mast will have to be a wind up design as I want to experiment, and
because I'm a long way down the rear garden, it could be 60ft tall and
still wouldn't be seen from the pavement at the front of the house.
30ft or 40ft would be ample here as I'm on a hill anyway, and shall
only initially be using two small beams on a rotator, for 2m and 23cms.

OK then, try to get into the neighbours' gardens and take some
photographs you can draw on.


--
73 from Ian G3SEK 'In Practice' columnist for RadCom (RSGB)
http://www.ifwtech.co.uk/g3sek

It depends on each council - many of them have delegated
powers for minor permissions to the officers. If you google on such,
you find a large number of minutes of meetings when the
delegation was voted in.

"Ian White, G3SEK" wrote in message
...
Actually Planning Officers have more discretion about "minor
developments" than they will readily admit to.

What if you don't have a pavement at the front of the dwelling (serious
question). Incidentally none of the antennas are visable from the front
of my "dwelling" (it looks like a tall ship race at the back mind) so I
guess I am ok.

Can I insist that my neighbour removes the two 80 foot oak trees he has
grown in his garden?

G1LVN wrote:
What if you don't have a pavement at the front of the dwelling (serious
question). Incidentally none of the antennas are visable from the front
of my "dwelling" (it looks like a tall ship race at the back mind) so I
guess I am ok.

Well, the Planning Enforcement Officer must make a determination of
which side of your house is the front, and view the house from standing
at least 6ft from your boundary.


Can I insist that my neighbour removes the two 80 foot oak trees he has
grown in his garden?


Possibly not, but you may erect an 80ft mast and almost certainly gain
approved planning, since stating that he has two 80ft trees next door
will allow you to maintain that the visual impact of your tower/antennas
various, will not be over-powering to the local area. ;-)

M5WJF

Thanks for that. Pretty useful those trees then. There are a number of
large trees in the village and have to be very big to survive the winds
at this altitude. Not sure how a tower would fair up here - and
probably not necessary according to some coverage map simulations I've
been doing - http://home.btconnect.com/g1lvn/eqso/maps/

G1LVN wrote:
Thanks for that. Pretty useful those trees then. There are a number of
large trees in the village and have to be very big to survive the winds
at this altitude. Not sure how a tower would fair up here - and
probably not necessary according to some coverage map simulations I've
been doing - http://home.btconnect.com/g1lvn/eqso/maps/


Interesting projections/simulations, how did you make these maps?

I'm interested in producing maps of such detail for various locations
across the West Midlands Region.

M5WJF

http://home.btconnect.com/g1lvn/eqso/coverage.htm

has links to coverage map software from VE2DBE and "G8GTZ how to get
started guide". The G8GTZ stuff is essentially because it's a bugger to
get the altitude date for the UK loaded in.

Takes a while to get it working, but once you have mastered it the
worlds your lobster. It's all freeware as well - works as well as lot
of commercial stuff which costs thousands of pounds
Regards
Gareth
www.g1lvn.org.uk