SOC 44 Ballaquane Park SOC and Original Objection

44, Ballaquane Park, Peel IM5 1PX

19 October 2025 Dear Sir / Madam

Appeal Ref: AP25/0034 Proposal: Appeal against the refusal for the Installation of 3 Telegraph Poles to provide fibre optic connectivity to 3-6 & 41-48 Ballaquane Park Planning Ref 25/90402/B Address: Ballaquane Park Peel Isle Of Man IM5 1PX

With reference to the above appeal by Manx Telecom, we write [yet again] to voice our Objection to this planning application.

We note the reasons Manx Telecom have listed for their appeal & would respond to each point they have made as follows:

• • Reason for appeal is that we don’t believe the poles to be visually intrusive as poles are used widely through out the island already – This point is surely subject to conjecture. Manx Telecom don’t feel they are intrusive, whereas the Residents [& Town Commissioners + Area Members of the House of Keys] certainly do feel they are intrusive
• • The Planning of these poles has taken in the consideration of the visual impact of the development on the surrounding area. This is the reason that poles have been sited on property boundaries and not directly in front of them where possible so they are less visual from within the properties – We certainly don’t think this statement is true! The proposed siting of the poles in this particular cul-de-sac would be directly in front of / or opposite residents windows & in the case of the proposed pole by our own particular property we would be able to view an approximate 9 metre pole from our lounge patio windows
• • This is also in relation to a similar scheme that was recently approved through planning in Ballamilaghyn where poles were sited on property boundaries and to feed a mix of bungalows and dormer bungalows – we have personally visited the Ballamilaghyn Estate & viewed the poles in question. We were not impressed with the landscape & certainly wouldn’t buy a property in an area with this type of infrastructure. Whilst there is a “mix” of bungalows on the estate we note the majority are of the dormer type & therefore much higher than a lot of the properties in Ballaquane Park. Ballamilaghyn Estate is also quite isolated in it’s position & one assumes this was taken into account when planning approval was given, whereas Ballaquane Park is completely surrounded by other housing & “strong” infrastructure is in place as per the whole Town of Peel

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• • Telegraph Poles play an important role in delivering an efficient & cost effective coverage and connectivity to properties, particularly in hard-to-reach areas without costly & disruptive roadworks or where existing infrastructure cannot be used – We do not feel that with the overall size of the Town of Peel that Ballaquane Park can be referred to as a “hard-to-reach” area! There is fibre cabling in the housing estate immediately to the back of this estate [Ballawattleworth] so connection would be easy to “bring around the corner” in to Ballaquane Park. We also note from the proposals that the poles are proposed to serve from No 3 of the Park onwards. So how do Nos 1 & 2 Ballaquane Park receive fibre broadband & where does the connection come from to start at the pole outside No 3? Does it come under the pavement from Ballawattleworth Estate up to this pole? If so why then can it not continue underground around the estate? Purely down to Manx Telecom costs, with no thought for the Residents feelings or living surroundings?
• • Poles are widely used within the Island with over 2500 Manx telecom and utilizing an additional 12000 MUA poles available to distribute telecommunications Island wide – This may well be the case in so called “hard-to-reach” locations on the Island BUT we have not seen such use in any of the Major towns/villages, which SURELY Peel must be classified as. When we bought this property in 1995 we certainly thought it was “in a Town” & not a “hard-to-reach” location. Since our purchase we have seen more housing/infrastructure added at the rear of our estate, reaching out from Ballawattleworth Estate towards McLeods Fields & Reayrt Aalin, plus the estate area from Rheast Bridson down towards the QEII school & up as far as the Barbary Coast West building. So we CANNOT accept that our estate is a “hard-to-reach” area!

This e-mail is just addressing the points made in the “Appeal Statement” of Manx Telecom. Rightly, or wrongly, we were under the impression that they were “employed” by the Isle of Man Government to provide Island wide Fibre Broadband by a certain date & negotiated a price with the Government to do so. I would now appear that they have [a] already utilised the sum agreed or [b] are now trying to “cut corners” in order to save time & money. Surely such a scenario should be “worked out” between them & the Government & Residents of Estates / Areas such as are should not be expected to put up with such “eyesore” schemes to accomplish their goal! All of this appealing after receiving very strong refusals of their original applications smacks of a “large Corporate establishment” trying to ride roughshod over residents who have placed their hard-earned savings in to their properties & in which they take a pride of such property & their surrounding areas.

We are also re-attaching our original objection to this proposal which points out other area of concern including Road Safety etc., which we would appreciate being added to the above points in any appeal hearing.

Thank you Kind regards

From: To: DEFA, Planning Subject: Planning Application - OBJECTION Date: 05 May 2025 18:16:35 Importance: High Caution: This email is from an external sender. Please take care before opening any attachments or following any links. To Members of the Planning Committee - F.A.O. Charles KOHLER, Technical Officer We are writing to you to “voice our objection” to the proposed erection of Poles to carry Fibre Optic Cables, by Manx Telecom.

Your reference is 25/90402/B - Installation of 3 Telegraph Poles to provide fibre optic connectivity to 3-6 & 41-48 Ballaquane Park

Our objection is based on the following points:

Personal Main Points of Objection Possibility of Road Traffic Accident due to lack of vision up a public footpath

Our premises, address as above, is situated in the corner of the bottom cul-de-sac of the Ballaquane Park Estate. There is a public footpath running from my front driveway up the side of my property. We have lived in this property since January

1. Getting vehicles in & out of the property is “challenging” at the best of times due to the restricted angle driving in & on exiting the need to edge out slowly to ensure there is nobody coming down the lane [looking to my right]. The property originally had Leylandii Trees running the length of the property boundary wall running alongside the public footpath. There was also a large railing & double gates at the entrance to the driveway. As a result of a few “near misses” with children on bicycles or children running down the lane towards our driveway, it was decided to take the railing & gates away, along with the Leylandii Trees in an attempt to give a greater view when edging out of the property. A wooden fence was erected above the low wall in order to offer some privacy as once the Leylandii was removed people using the lane could see over the low wall in to our Lounge. Manx Telecom wish to now place a Telegraph Pole immediately to the right of my driveway in the public footpath. This, in our opinion, will further obstruct the view of anybody trying to drive off my property. One of us is a retired Police Officer & we feel that the siting of this pole, in the position requested by Manx Telecom, will cause a greater risk to the possibility of an accident with a person using the footpath than already exists. Whilst there is not a constant flow of pedestrians/children using the footpath, during the day at peak times [going or coming from school] there are a large number of children up & down the footpath, together with many parents, some with prams, who unfortunately are usually on their mobile ‘phones & not paying enough attention to existing vehicles! Also when schools are on holiday many children take to “racing” around the estate on bicycles, scooters, skateboards & the likes. Once we only just avoided hitting a child on a scooter, who had come “flying” down the footpath & across the front of our driveway just as we were exiting in my husband’s vehicle!

Erection of Pole – From what we can see from the Photographs supplied to us by Manx Telecom, the siting of the proposed pole outside our premises is close to my boundary wall/fence – presumably to allow what they say is a permissible width left for the public to use the footpath. When we recently had our fence replaced, after the recent storms, the contractor informed us that the foundations of the wall are

not as deep as he would have liked them. So if such a pole was placed in to the area proposed would Manx Telecom cover the cost of any damage to o wall/fence? Also how would we have access to an area of our fence to paint it when necessary if the pole is also up against it. We could not get a specific response to this question when one of us [Richard]spoke to a member of their planning team!

General Points

• 1. Existing Ducting – We assume that ducting is already in place on the Estate for the Copper Wiring currently in use. Whilst we are lead to believe the Fibre Optic Cable cannot be bent, surely even if there are a “few kinks” in the existing ducting it would be cheaper to “straighten these out” rather than installing all the poles proposed.
• 2. Visual Impact – There are currently no telegraph poles on the Estate. The height of the proposed poles, together with the associated hardware used on them, will be massively unsightly & not in keeping with the current established character of the area.
• 3. Noise & Environmental Disturbance – Most overhead cables are known to vibrate in heavy winds [which are prevalent in this area as we have found to our cost recently replacing fencing & greenhouse glass (on more than one occasion)]. This would be most unsatisfactory to anyone with poles/cables situated outside their bedrooms.
• 4. Maintenance & Future Costs – We are led to believe that the wooden poles used normally have a lifespan of around 20-30 years. When one of us spoke to a member of Manx Telecom Planning recently he informed us that to put new ducting around the Estate would be of much greater cost that erecting poles, but conceded that ducting would probably last for around 200 years! Surely then greater cost now will be significantly less cost in the future! In the 45 minutes of with this member of Manx Telecom he kept re-iterating that there was no money “left in the pot” to put ducting in as the IOM Government had only given them a small amount to do the necessary work & then other telecom firms were “piggy-backing” on to their infrastructure. Surely this is a matter between the business & the Government & residents in Peel should not be placed in a “post-code lottery” for what they can be provided with because other areas have, by the looks of things, taken up more funds for installation that was originally thought – a frequent mistake made by the current Government, but also, in this case, presumably because Manx Telecom have not “costed” correctly when negotiating. As previously said NOT a reason in itself for discriminating between residents living in different areas.

• 5. Property Values – Poles & Cables around the Estate would have a great visual impact on the area & will undoubtedly affect the values of properties in the area. We both would think twice about buying a property in an area which basically looked like the back-street suburbs of Calcutta, India!
• 6. Damage to Property if cables fall – If such a scenario was to occur due to bad weather etc. who will cover the cost of any repairs to any damaged property or injury sustained by a householder or member of the public? Or would Manx Telecom just say of was an “act of God” & expect the resident to “pick up the tab” themselves or via their own house insurance. If the latter that would then obviously have an impact on any future premiums. This would need discussion & confirmation in writing re liability before any planning permission was given.

• 7. Alternative Solutions – Manx Telecom proposed to put these poles in to the Estate around 2-3 years ago. The residents said a resounding NO! Since that application they have not come up with any alternative solution, in what is supposedly a “fast

• moving technology”…..or have they but are reluctant to instigate it to due to the cost involved?
• 8. Cable Heights – A lot of properties within the Estate are bungalows & only one storey high. How would cables from such a high pole be attached to such a property? On our own for instance if the cable was attached to my property, even at it’s highest point of our walls, it would have to drop from around 30-40 feet to around 10 feet, thus obstructing part of our garden & or driveway / walkway around the bungalow. Totally a non-starter as cable would impede such things as walking around the property with a ladder of other similar item of similar height!
• 9. Wildlife – There are a number of Seagulls that nest on properties in & around Ballaquane Park. Over the past years these birds have been particularly aggressive when their young are born, attacking anybody walking by. They also fly up & down the cul-de-sac, using it as a short cut when going to look for food or bringing it back to the nest. Such low lying cables, as proposed between the poles requested would cause an obstruction to the birds & they could well get “tangled up” in them, causing damage to the cables or injury to themselves. This would then cause a scenario whereby already aggressive birds are even more aggressive if lying in the roadway or on the pavement with members of the public trying to find their way around them, or even having to try & remove them. If they are a “protected” species then surely they should be protected from such obstacles placed in their way of their long established flying routes.
• 10. Alternative Installation Methods – There are other methods of installation open to Manx Telecom which are less disruptive & more in keeping with the design & character of this Estate. Cost should not be the only factor in decision making.

Manx Telecom appear to be submitting a number of similar applications across multiple Estates built before the 1990’s. This pattern would appear to suggest a broader “policy shift” on their part which, in our opinion, should be subject to public consultation & strategic review. It should not be decided “piecemeal” via individual planning applications.

Obviously this is not an isolated issue & it has the potential to fundamentally alter the appearance & character of multiple residential areas across the Island. This risks degrading the very environment chosen by the people living in these Estates & which makes the Island special.

Forty-Five minutes were spent talking to a member of the Manx Telecom Planning Team the other day, where we tried to get answers to various point we raised, most of which we have covered in this letter of objection to this application by them. Throughout this conversation the only constructive answer we could take from it was that the application was purely based on cost & definitely not resident focused. They already charge more for their services compared to other small Islands. We therefore feel it unreasonable to expect residents to put up with a “visual blight” on the Estate, which we are convinced will reduce the value of the properties on it just to facilitate cost-saving measures of a monopoly provider.

We also felt, during this conversation, that it was a case of if you don’t accept what we propose to do on your Estate you may not get Fibre Broadband at all. This smacked of basically being coerced to accept their terms or do without unless you accept these intrusive measures! Such an attitude certainly undermines public trust in this provider. It would also undermine public trust, if approved, in both the Planning Committee & Government itself.

We are sorry that this document is as long as it is, but we have tried to express all our thoughts on paper, about this matter, which is far harder to do than just talking through each point to someone whilst “on site”.

For all the above reasons we both urge the Planning Committee to reject this application by Manx Telecom. There are, in our opinion, far better & less intrusive options available which would safeguard both the service delivery & the visual amenity of the Island’s residential Estate.

Kind regards

44 Ballaquane Park, Peel, Isle of Man IM5 1PX [joint owner/occupiers]