Police had to be called in after furious protesters blocked a road to stop hated new broadband telegraph poles from being put up in their street.
Campaigners in Southport, Merseyside, have accused the broadband firm Openreach of poor behaviour, with one councillor saying the company had displayed a ‘shocking’ level of ‘arrogance’.
Locals near Griffiths Drive and Chester Road met on Thursday for their second day of demonstrations against the installation of the ‘alien’ masts.
Pictures from the scene show the protestors facing off against 14 officers who were called to the scene to calm tensions between the campaigners and workmen.
The poles will carry FTTP (Fibre to the Premises), linking properties to Openreach’s ultrafast full fibre broadband network.
Fourteen police officers had to be called in after furious protesters blocked a road to stop hated new broadband telegraph poles from being put up in their street
Pictures from the scene show the protestors facing off against 14 officers who were called to the scene to calm tensions
Campaigners in Southport, Merseyside, have accused the broadband firm Openreach of poor behaviour after the company did not consult them
While campaigners in Southport say the internet upgrade programme is welcomed, they are very clear about their opposition to telegraph poles – believing them to be unattractive, damaging to wildlife and less effective than the underground cables they want instead.
Earlier this week, Sefton Council called on Openreach to suspend its plans to install telegraph poles across the town after being inundated with complaints from local residents.
The erection of Openreach’s telegraph poles has proceeded without the need for approval from Sefton Council’s planning team.
This is because the installation is covered by permitted development rights (PDRs) – a statutory instrument included in the Town and Country Planning Order 2015.
It means planning permission for certain types of development can be granted without requiring approval from the local planning authority or any consultation with residents.
Guidance published on the Electronic Communications Code (Conditions and Restrictions) Regulations 2003 and available in the House of Commons Library states: ‘The 2003 Regulations do not require broadband companies to consult with local residents.’
Protesters claimed they had not been consulted and this point was echoed by Norwood ward councillor Greg Myers, who was in attendance.
Speaking on Thursday evening, the Labour councillor said: ‘Instead of pausing on poles and holding a constructive dialogue with concerned residents as requested earlier this week, Openreach has instead it seems ramped up its efforts.
The Openreach workmen were surrounded by an army of police officers while they tried to put up the telegraph poles
The campaigners believe the poles are unattractive, damaging to wildlife and less effective than the underground cables they want instead
‘Today though there was definitely more of an edge to proceedings and attitudes are hardening a little it seems, certainly residents increasingly feel they are being trampled upon by Openreach.
‘How on earth the company has failed so miserably on meaningful engagement with this community is one thing, the fact that it is blatantly obvious they have and yet they stubbornly refuse to change tack is quite another.
‘All these delays, extra cost and police man hours wasted because they preferred to talk at residents instead of to them? It makes little sense. It is shocking arrogance by Openreach management and it needs to stop.’
One local resident, Brian, who attended the protest, said he had been part of the campaign to stop the telegraph poles since the beginning.
Brian said: ‘There were 14 police officers today. It’s taken an awful lot of police resources of the streets just to assist Openreach in carrying out their works.
‘Today was a small victory for Openreach even though it’s taken them five hours to put one pole in and cost them a lot of money.
‘We’ve had to go away and we’ve had to learn a few lessons, but we’ll be back out again tomorrow.’
A Merseyside Police spokesperson said: ‘We can confirm that officers were monitoring a protest in connection to the installation of new broadband on Griffiths Drive, in Southport, on Thursday, March 14.
‘Merseyside Police recognises the right of people to peacefully protest and express their views. Officers engaged protesters at the scene today and reminded them that their protest must remain peaceful and that any escalation towards committing offences will not be tolerated.
‘No arrests were made, and the protest ended at around 2pm.
‘Officers have held ongoing and open discussions with both sets of parties surrounding this issue and we will continue to monitor protests to ensure it doesn’t impact on public safety or the right of people to go about their lawful business.’
Openreach is a company wholly owned by BT Group plc. It runs the UK’s digital network
Openreach has a total of 37,000 staff which help build and maintain the infrastructure
Openreach is a company wholly owned by BT Group plc. It maintains the telephone cables, ducts, cabinets and exchanges that connect nearly all homes and businesses in the United Kingdom to the national broadband and telephone network.
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Responding to Thursday’s events, Openreach said: ‘We know that some people in Southport feel strongly about poles and understand why, however, to say we haven’t engaged with local residents is simply not true. Our local team has engaged extensively with local residents even to the point of discussing the positioning for individual poles.
‘Wherever possible we will use existing network to build our broadband upgrades but in Southport cables are mainly buried direct in the ground. The scale and cost of civil engineering to install new underground ducts throughout the area just isn’t viable and would involve months of road closures and disruptions.
‘We’ve explored every possible option for the build and adding new telegraph poles into the network is the only option to bring full fibre to the people of Southport.
‘We’ve communicated our decision to continue building and we believe our engineers should be allowed to go about their lawful work without facing harassment or abuse.’
This clash between residents and Openreach comes after the company was involved in a similar battle last month.
Furious homeowners in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, revealed how telecoms workers were trying to cement in ‘eyesore’ broadband poles right outside their windows.
The owners of the £450,000 newbuild houses were blighted with the 30ft masts 19 months ago.
A similar battle between residents and Openreach has been raging in Thornesgate drive in Wakefield over broadband telegraph poles
Workmen turned up unannounced and started digging up the pavement to lock in the poles permanently
Resident confronted the workers after they began their work without any warning
The £450,000 newbuild houses in were blighted with the 30ft masts 19 months ago
Start up manager Shabana Yousaf, whose bedroom window view has been ruined by a mast
But the owners of the modern properties have been left horrified after workmen turned up unannounced last month and started digging up the pavement to lock in the poles.
Locals feared that if the resurfacing work is completed they will be stuck with the giant pillars for good.
Start up manager Shabana Yousaf, whose bedroom window view has been ruined by a mast, was coming back from the gym when she saw the crews using a heavy duty machine.
They had already planned the section across her and her neighbour’s drive when she parked across the pavement at the entrance to her drive to halt the work.
‘The stress they have caused me is ridiculous. They did not give any notice they were coming today. They were trying to do it on the hush hush,’ she told at the time.
‘We want answers why they did not give notice. The poles stank of creosote when they were first put in as well. All the residents are unhappy.’
Residents were infuriated because when they bought the new homes they said they were told all the broadband cables would be buried underground, not overhead.