Furious Burnley residents demand council action over panic attack-inducing telegraph poles

Residents of Garswood Close and surrounding roads in Burnley’s semi-rural Lower Manor Lane estate claim the poles have been installed by telecommunications firm BRSK without any consultation with them.

BRSK has been rolling out full-fibre broadband across Burnley since October 2021 with the aim of connecting 50,000 homes and businesses to the fastest broadband.

But angry resident Debra O’Donnell came to last week’s borough Full Council meeting to protest about the masts.

She told councillors: “I rise to present a petition signed by the residents of the Lower Manor Lane estate regarding the installation of telecommunication telegraph poles. Many of the residents have found telegraph poles installed close to their homes, outside their front gates, in the middle of pavements without any permission or advance notice.

“With no requirement for local consultation there is no opportunity for residents to have their say. This petition represents the strength of their feeling. This situation needs to change. BRSK, the internet provider, has commenced the installation of poles on the estate without prior consultation or formal notice as outlined in their permit application.

“The residents have got together and 342 signatures. The residents would welcome the support of the council to remove the poles and for no more poles to be erected to maintain the aesthetics of the estate.

“We would like consultation to be made mandatory for any future infrastructure. Pendle Council have already kindly written to BRSK asking them to remove the poles.

“There are a number of residents where the poles are causing health conditions including panic attacks because they are all they see when they wake up in the morning and go to bed at night. We would be very grateful if you could write to BRSK on our behalf.”

The meeting on Thursday noted the petition and promised a response on what action the council might take.

A BRSK spokesperson has previously responded to the petition by saying: “We take community engagement very seriously, which is why we first notified residents about our intention to install infrastructure back in June this year. We then followed this up with dedicated engagement managers, who visited those directly affected by poles outside their homes, to ensure we had communicated. We’re disappointed to hear that despite our efforts, residents don’t feel that sufficient effort was made on our part.”