Construction of New Mast Behind Garda Station

The town was recently informed that a new mast would be constructed behind the Garda station. The new mast will be the same height as the existing one but will be wider. 

This was raised at the Parish Council meeting in December and on the night it was agreed to make contact with the company proposing to erect the mast. The following is part of the email sent to the company on December 18th.

Further to our meeting of Glenties Parish Council last Thursday night, a number of issues have arisen on which we need clarification

• How much bigger is this new mast going to be? (Dimensions) 
• Will it impinge aesthetically on the town environs?  very important for Tidy Towns committee.  
• Where could we see a mast that will be similar to the new one proposed for Glenties ?  
• In the event of radiation levels rising after new antennae are installed what will be the recourse of local residents?  
• Will there be space available on this mast for local broadcasting on a nominal rent basis. 

The following reply was received on January 2nd.

Tower Dimensions
The replacement tower is being designed at the moment, once a solution has been confirmed I will forward the exact dimensions to you. I can, however, confirm that the proposed replacement will be of equal height to that of the existing structure (34.2m) and that the tower base dimension will not exceed twice that of the original mast (0.88m)

Visual Aesthetics
It is proposed that the replacement structure will be erected beside the old tower. This will result in a minimal change in visual aesthetics (to what already exists)

Structure Types
As the new tower design at this location will be unique to Glenties Garda station I am unable to provide any previous comparisons. I have attached photographs of the development at Balbriggan Garda Station to show both old and new structures in situ during the Garda antenna cut over process. The new structure is on the left and whilst looks a metre or so higher is actually 20m nearer to where the photograph was taken and is off the same height.

EMF Emissions
All OPW sites developed through iProperty must comply with the International Commission on Non Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) General Public Guideline Limits. We have proposed installing an EMF Monitoring Probe at this location prior to the site development progressing into build. This will enable the local population to monitor the current levels of EMF received in the area, pre and post development, and identify any increase in levels as a result of this development. 

Broadcasting Equipment
This is something I will look into for you, can you please provide the following information? 

• Identify the equipment operator,
• Provide frequency and power output
• Provide antenna and associated equipment to be placed on structure
• Provide details of ground space requirements for equipment cabinet(s)
• Power requirements