Could St Keverne and Coverack finally be able to get proper mobile phone coverage? This was the hope raised when St Keverne parish councillors were told about a plan to install a 12 metre tall mast by telecommunications company EE on land off Roskilly’s Farm.

This would come with a 0.6 metre dish within a transformer box and six equipment cabinets.

All of this would be enclosed within a 2.2 metre timber fence.

In supporting documents accompanying the planning application, agents Harlequin Ltd state that the site is to the east of Roskilly’s, in open fields and bordered by “substantial” hedgerow, with “relatively few” farm buildings and homes lie in the immediate vicinity.

The mast would replace an existing one at the Old Slaughterhouse in St Keverne.

The agents have written: “The proposal has been sited and designed to provide the required level of coverage to the village of St Keverne, which would suffer from poor coverage once the Old Slaughter House site has been removed.

“The existing mast at the Old Slaughterhouse is awaiting decommission after planning permission was granted for a housing development at the site. The mast cannot be removed until a replacement site is permitted; therefore this planning application is being submitted urgently in the hope of avoiding any further delay to the commencement of the building works.”

A previously proposed site at Trevallack Farm has been ruled out following pre-application advice, due to legal issues.

The agents added: “EE is aware of local feelings towards telecommunications development and has made every effort to recognise this by sensitively locating the equipment and choosing a design solution to minimise the impact on the surrounding area and in particular, the area of outstanding natural beauty.”

They said the proposed double pole design was intended to be “less visually intrusive” that the more common “lattice” masts and the location chosen to minimise the impact on views.

The parish councillors were in support, with councillor Bill Frisken saying: “We might actually get some signal down in Coverack!”