Telecommunication Developments

Register of telecommunications development

Bracknell Forest's register of telecommunications development is regularly updated. This lists the location of existing telecommunication development used by the mobile phone operator networks.

The purpose of the register is to highlight existing masts and structures in Bracknell Forest that may be suitable to accommodate additional telecommunications equipment. This will assist operators in finding suitable sites for mast sharing or for the co-location of sites. You can also view a copy of the register at the council office at Time Square, Bracknell.

Future development within Bracknell Forest

In October to November each year the local planning authority is sent ‘roll out’ information from the five main operators - T-mobile, Orange, 3, O2 and Vodafone. This information shows the likely areas of search for suitable sites of telecommunications development for the following year.

The council produces an annual map which combines the five mobile phone operators’ roll out information. This map shows ‘areas of search’ for telecommunication equipment in the borough. You can view the map at the Council Offices, Time Square, Bracknell.

Whilst not a planning consideration the council, as landowner, gets requests from time to time for the erection of telecommunications equipment on its land.

The council does not have a blanket policy and seeks to consider all cases on their merits. In some instances the Council is in a position to allow the use of its land thereby removing the need for masts to be erected amongst homes, for example.

Please contact the council's head of property about any issues regarding the siting of telecommunications equipment of any sort on council-owned land.

Health concerns

The International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) is an independent scientific body which has produced an international set of guidelines for public exposure to radio frequency waves. These guidelines were recommended in the Stewart Report and adopted by the Government, replacing the National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) guidelines.

Health and the planning system

Government guidance, Planning Policy Guidance 8: Telecommunications, gives advice on planning for telecommunications development. This states that “it is the Government's firm view that the planning system is not the place for determining health safeguards. It remains central Government's responsibility to decide what measures are necessary to protect public health.

In the Government's view, if a proposed mobile phone base station meets the ICNIRP guidelines for public exposure as submitted in a certificate to the Local Planning Authority which confirms that the proposed mast meets the ICNIRP (International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection) guidelines, it should not be necessary for a local planning authority, in processing an application for planning permission or prior approval, to consider further the health aspects and concerns about them."