From POST UK 5G MAST APPLICATIONS THAT NEED OBJECTIONS HERE

Useful info from a planning law blog: “MAKING AN OBJECTION — “Your objection will have more effect if a number of people write in to object, but do not be tempted to organise a petition; it will not carry any weight and is a waste of time. Also avoid using a ‘standard’ letter. Objectors should use their own words and write, type or word process their letters themselves. Objections will not carry the same weight if they are seen to have been written or produced in a standardised form.

Councils always request comments within a time limit (usually within 21 days of notification), but in practice they must take into account any representations received before the application is actually determined. So it is not too late to comment provided a planning permission has not actually been issued. On the other hand, it is obviously best to make your views known as early as possible.

There is no restriction on what you can say about a planning application, but your Council will not publish or take account of any material which they think is libellous, racist or offensive. There is no point in putting things in your letter which are not relevant to planning, because by law the Council can only take into account the planning issues and must not allow themselves to be influenced by other considerations unless they really are relevant to planning.

It therefore makes sense when objecting to a planning application to concentrate on those aspects of a development which are likely to be unacceptable in terms of their visual impact, effect on the character of a neighbourhood, possible noise and disturbance, overlooking and loss of privacy. The likely effect of the development on the residential amenity of neighbours is clearly an important consideration. On the other hand, a possibly adverse impact on property values is not a relevant planning consideration, and so there is no point in mentioning it.

If the proposed development is in a designated Conservation Area or would affect the setting of a Listed Building (i.e. a building on the statutory list of buildings of special architectural or historic interest), there may be further grounds of objection relating to the effect of the development on the character and appearance of the Conservation Area or on the setting of the particular Listed Building. Similar considerations would apply if the site is in a part of the country which has been officially designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

As a general rule, new development will only be acceptable within existing settlements. The Development Plan (see “Planning Policies” below) defines the precise boundaries of settlements. So it should be perfectly clear on which side of the line the application site lies. New development is also discouraged in the Green Belt. There are also strict limits on the size of house extensions in the Green Belt (even if the site is inside the boundary of a settlement, but the Green Belt ‘washes over’ it). Basically, house extensions in the Green Belt must not significantly enlarge the overall size of the house, and the cumulative size of successive extensions will be taken into account in this calculation compared to the size of the house as originally built.

At various times, government policy has encouraged a higher density of residential development within existing settlements than might have been considered acceptable some years ago, and the need to provide as many new homes as possible naturally tends to encourage higher densities than previously. This includes infilling within existing residential areas. In June 2010, the government tried to discourage so-called ‘garden grabbing’, and this might still be a ground for objecting to a development proposal, but for up-to-date guidance on density issues you should look at the latest version of the National Planning Policy Framework: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-planning-policy-framework-2. Further guidance may be found in the government’s online Planning Policy Guidance: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/planning-practice-guidance . However, the effect of the development on the character of the neighbourhood has always been, and remains, a factor which may lead to the refusal of planning permission, so you should not hesitate to raise issues of density and possible over-development of the site as well as the adverse impact which the proposed development might have on the character of the neighbourhood or on the residential amenity of neighbours.

Design (including bulk and massing, detailing and materials, if these form part of the application) is nowadays recognised as an important factor in the acceptability of a development proposal. If you think the development looks ugly, then you should say so, especially if it is over-bearing, out-of-scale or out of character in terms of its appearance compared with existing development in the vicinity. As mentioned above, a higher standard of design is expected in a Conservation Area, or where it affects the setting of a Listed Building. Councils are under a legal duty to have particular regard to the desirability of preserving or enhancing the character and appearance of a Conservation Area. Similarly, a development which would adversely affect the setting of a Listed Building is unlikely to be acceptable. The impact of the development on the landscape will also be an important factor in a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Concerns about highway safety may also be raised, but it should be borne in mind that such issues are subject to careful technical examination by qualified engineers employed by the highway authority, and so an objection based on road safety fears is unlikely to carry much weight unless it is also the independent view of the Council’s own highway engineers that the development would adversely affect highway safety or the convenience of road users.

One point which is controversial is the relevance in planning terms of the loss of a view. It is often said that “there is no right to a view”. Whilst this is correct in strictly legal terms, it does not mean that the loss of a view is necessarily irrelevant to planning. The enjoyment of a view could be an important part of the residential amenity of a neighbouring property, and its loss might therefore have an adverse impact on the residential amenity of that property. Loss of a view from a public viewpoint might also have a wider impact on a neighbourhood, and such matters ought to be taken into account where they are raised. In putting forward an objection based on the loss of a view, however, you should make it clear that this objection is based on the important contribution to residential amenity that this view currently makes, so that its loss would have a serious adverse impact on that residential amenity.