Jesus Green phone mast row continues as petition gathers 2000 signatures
Watch Sarah Cooper's full report
Two thousand people have signed a petition to try and stop a telephone mast being moved onto one of Cambridge's most iconic open spaces.
There are plans to put a 30-metre mast on a tennis court at Jesus Green.
Cllr Anthony Martinelli says the telephone mast would be one of the tallest structures in Cambridge:
There's a proposal for a 30-metre high telephone mast to be erected on the tennis courts. So, this would be one of the tallest structures in Cambridge, it's taller than King's College Chapel, so, this would be a hugely disfiguring installation. Thinking about this ward, which I know quite well as the councillor, I can think of few places less appropriate for the mast than Jesus Green.
There's currently a telephone mast on the city council's Park Street Car Park near Jesus Green.
However, there are plans to develop the multi-story into a hotel, so the mast needs to move.
The phone companies are said to be struggling to find a new permanent spot for the mast.
The City Council says putting it on the tennis court at Jesus Green is a temporary fix, but campaigners aren't convinced.
The idea that this would be temporary for one year, is the council's argument, however, we all know what happens with temporary structures and when there is the opportunity within the next year to find a permanent site, why on earth cause all this distress by putting it on Jesus Green as a proposed temporary, which we all know would probably end up being permanent?
The City Council owns the land and doesn't want the mast there either, but says it'll be hard to stop because of the legal powers the phone companies have.
Those companies say they'll look for an alternative, permanent home for the mast - as soon as possible.
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