A COMPROMISE may have been reached over the siting of a mobile phone mast on farmland near Sedgefield.

An application for a 15m tower south of Swan Carr Farm, Bradbury, was refused by Sedgefield Borough Council in August.

Members said it would spoil the landscape around Bradbury, Mordon and Preston Carrs.

But after discussions with council officers and the land owner, BT Cellnet has submitted a new application which is much closer to farm buildings, making the mast less visually intrusive.

The new proposal will be discussed by the council's development control committee tomorrow.

A report to the meeting says: "The historic character of the Carrs is characterised as being flat and low-lying, with small pockets of tree cover. As such, careful consideration of the siting and design of the proposal is important since the erection of telecommunication apparatus within the Carrs is likely to be highly visible."

The report says: "The site of the proposal is located adjacent to existing planting and within reasonable proximity to farm buildings associated with Swan Carr Farm.

"A number of trees are located adjacent to the application site and these features provide a context against which the proposal would be viewed, and they break up the predominantly flat nature of the land."

The report concludes that the benefit of the proposal outweighs any environmental impact and officers will recommend members to approve the new site.