A 15m phone mast (3 times the height of a street lamp) and 2 telecomms cabinets are due to be placed at the end of Connaught Road, between the 2 sites of Connaught School. The mast will be in the cycle lane, on the path that is used by people to go to and from the station.

The two cabinets will be placed in the flower bed against the wall of the A12. This raises
multiple concerns:

• Health. The jury is still out on the health implications of phone masts, though some studies suggest ill health can result from exposure.
• Safety. The two boxes will be very climbable by the curious, the drunk, the young, the unstable, the suicidal – any vulnerable individual looking to have a peak or clamber straight over the wall onto the A12. This is between 2 school sites and there are already too many incidents of people committing suicide onto the A12, including a 16 year old girl in 2012.
• The mast will be in the cycle lane which goes against the council's current strategy.
• This isn't the most attractive of areas, and this certainly won't help. This will be within meters of houses and is an imposing,intimidating structure unsuitable for a domestic environment.