Plans for a new 20-metre-high mast and “5G mobile base station” on Wearside have been submitted to city development chiefs.

Sunderland City Council’s planning department has received an application for a site near Pallion New Road in the Pallion ward.

Location plans show the site near industrial units and the Sunderland LGV Driver Training Centre off Lisburn Terrace, and adjacent to the green space alongside homes on Corning Road.

The plans from Cellnex UK Limited aim to upgrade the existing telecoms infrastructure at the site, including increasing the size of the mast and installing new equipment.

A covering letter submitted with the application states it has been made “on behalf of EE Ltd and Hutchison 3G UK Ltd with Mobile Broadband Network Limited” and aims to create a “5G mobile base station”.

A planning statement confirms this would include the replacement of existing equipment to “facilitate 5G technology and enable improved service provision”.

The planning statement adds: “The site is situated within a commercial area with a high demand for mobile network services.

“It is considered that the least visually intrusive solution has been put forward via the upgrading of an existing site rather than the introduction of an entirely new telecommunications compound.

“It is important to note that in addition to being the sequentially preferable solution, by utilising an existing telecoms site this will fit in within the existing network configuration thereby eliminating the need to introduce additional base stations within the cell search area”.

Those behind the scheme also said “telecommunications is considered as a critical service as it is providing data to network operatives, field engineers, call centre staff, IT, data infrastructure and 999 and 111 critical services”.

It was noted that the application site would “carry different mobile
connectivity services in parallel, with high data uses operating through the new 5G higher capacity network apparatus subject of this application”.

Applicants added that “full consideration has been given to alternative sites” but that the “proposed location and design are considered to be the optimum solution in this instance”.

The planning statement continues: “The service provided by the operator is in the public interest and is in very high demand, with 5G being the next and highly significant advancement in mobile connectivity.

“The current installation requires replacing existing Huawei apparatus and equipment upgrades to meet the operator’s license obligations and network capacity requirements.

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“The base station will also accommodate new technologies being the
next and highly significant advancement in mobile connectivity”.

A decision on the planning application is expected to be made by Sunderland City Council’s planning department later this year.

For more information on the plan or to track its progress, visit the council’s planning portal website and search reference: 24/01280/TEX