Plans for a telecommunications mast in Lottisham, that should boost the rural broadband coverage in the area, have been given the go-ahead.

The planning application for a proposed installation of a 15-metre slimline telecommunications mast for broadband use with an equipment cabin at the base and antenna, dishes and ancillary development at Lottisham Farm, Lottisham Road, was submitted to Mendip District Council by rural broadband supplier Voneus Ltd.

Voneus have been working to try and find solutions in the area by installing on existing buildings, and say they have an urgent requirement to provide a structure that would link 1,580 homes in Lottisham, Parbrook, West Pennard, East Pennard, Glastonbury, Alhampton, North Wootton, Pilton, Ditcheat, Hembridge, Stone, Hornblotton, Lydford-on-Fosse, West Lydford, East Lydford, Ham Street, Baltonsborough and Sticklinch, and provide them with superfast broadband.

According to data from Ofcom, the majority of residents in and around these places have broadband speeds of below 15Mbps, but Voneus say they have discovered that some premises receive much lower speeds and in some cases, under 5Mbps.

This is below the government's Universal Service Obligation that states that every home should be able to access broadband speeds of at least 10Mbps.

In order to provide this service, Voneus want to install a 15m mast and have identified a location to the rear of farm buildings at Lottishham Farm that would link the network and provide the service.

The new mast will enable Voneus to deliver broadband speeds of between 24Mbps and 50Mbps to premises within a 10km area.

The proposed structure that Voneus are going to use is a "movable" installation, in that there will be no concrete base poured, as is usual with a telecoms mast.

The base of the mast will also be the installation's equipment cabin and the mast is built on top of the cabin.

In looking for a location to install a structure to provide a link for the 1,500 homes, Voneus say they were keen to limit the number of masts that they were required to build.

The dishes on the mast require to have "line of sight" which limits the number of suitable locations.

Lottisham Farm was identified as a property which could link all of the sites together using just one mast, so in line with government policy to keep the number of new installations to a minimum, Voneus looked to find the best location on the farm.

There was an objection from Historic England, who said the mast could have a detrimental impact on the setting of Lottisham Church.

However, Mendip District Council considered that as the mast was in a farm setting and 240 metres from the church, that the application should be approved.