Mobile phone company Orange have applied to erect an 8m tall double mobile phone mast about 100m from the White Horse stone in Medway, Kent (England). The White Stone is generally considered to be a fragmentary example of the Neolithic chamber tomb group known as the Medway megaliths.    
     This latest application comes less than two years after a failed attempt to gain permission for a 15m high mast to be situated 'yards from the stone'. Orange have changed both the size, look and location of the mast to try and make it more in keeping with the surroundings. However the new site will be just off the route to the stone and within yards of an an area designated AONB and SSSI. Despite the 'innovative' new design, the specs seem to show that this mast will be clearly visible to all who walk past and will impinge on their enjoyment of the countryside. The reason behind the new application is to provide better coverage to passengers on the new Euro tunnel line that has scarred this already overdeveloped piece of rural England.
     The application can be read online at the Maidstone county council pages (ref 06/0792). If you wish to object to this application you need to do so by 6th June 2006 and can do so by writing to:

Katie Lazam.
Planning Dept
13 Tonbridge Road
Maidstone Kent, ME16 8HG
England

Objections can also be emailed to Katie Lazam at Maidstone Council. You will need to include Planning Application Reference: MA/06/0792/N in any correspondence.

Sources: Odinic Rite, Druids Network, Britarch (23 May 2006), Heritage Action Journal (26 May 2006)