Church agrees to tower phone mast

The parochial church council of St Mary's, East Preston, has provisionally approved the proposal to install the Vodafone 3G antenna, which would most likely be disguised as a working flagpole.

But an action group made up of people living near the 12th-century church, a listed building, has posted around 1,500 flyers to homes in the area, warning of the plans and encouraging people to object.

One nearby resident, Mary Mead, of Preston Paddock, said: "I was brought up to believe the church to be a sacred place for one to commune with God. I feel it is being abused if masts are allowed to be fitted in and within its grounds."

Two previous attempts by mobile phone operator Orange to put up a phone mast on a pavement near the church were turned down by Arun District Council after a raft of complaints from residents.

Fr John Lyon, vicar of St Mary's, was approached by QS4, a company appointed by the Church of England as an intermediary for dealing with installers of telecommunications equipment.

The Church of England has been criticised over its dealings with QS4, as the company is part-owned by Qinetiq, a company that develops advanced weapons technology, contradicting church policy of avoiding investing in comapnies that produce weapons.

Fr Lyon declined to comment about the proposal.

Speaking on behalf of QS4, Bill Scott said: "This is a public consultation exercise. Phone masts and antennae are controversial and the parochial church council of St Mary's is keen to see what the community thinks of the installation before the planning stage.

"Churches are often ideal locations for phone antennae as they are often the tallest building in semi-suburban and rural areas."

The Church of England has around 15,000 buildings across the country and so far 5,000 have expressed an interest in installing a mobile phone mast in return for an annual rental income.

If the plan gets the go-ahead, the extra equipment associated with the antennae will be concealed behind new shrubbery at the edge of Station Road, within the church grounds.

Electrical cabling would be concealed within the tower and buried underground without disturbing any graves.

A final decision on the proposals is not expected for at least three months and must be approved by the Diocesan advisory committee for church buildings.

The plan would then go before Arun District Council's planning department.