Minimizing visual and environmental impact of telecommunications

In submitting proposals for telecommunications development applicants should seek a solution which minimises visual and environmental impact. Individual circumstances will determine how this can best be achieved. For development by code system operators an approach to reaching an apt solution in site selection and base station design is to consider the series of options set out below. This is a checklist rather than a rigid sequence of steps: • installing smaller antennas; • disguising antennas and equipment, for example as part of a building or street furniture; • designing antennas and equipment so that they appear to be an integral part of a building, structure, or landscape; • sharing existing sites, masts and other infrastructure; • installing antennas on a building or structure not already used; and • developing a new mast only when other options are not possible or it represents a better environmental solution than other options.