Plans have been lodged to build a 5G mast in a Lake District honeypot to enhance its facilities and strengthen the economy.
The proposal is to install the 39ft – or 12m – mast on land at Ferry Nab in Bowness-on-Windermere. The mast will also have a smart camera.
An application has been submitted to the Lake District National Park Authority for the column and it will be paid for from part of the £3.8 million of Government funds allocated to the Borderlands Partnership in December 2023 to support five projects across the region to unlock economic growth in the area.
The Borderlands Partnership is a coalition of five councils – Cumberland, Dumfries and Galloway, Northumberland, Scottish Borders and Westmorland and Furness – with the funding managed by Cumberland Council.
Plans said: “The high quality private 5G network will enhance the local and tourist facilities in the area strengthening the rural economy.”
It added that the improved connectivity would support better revenue collection for the Windermere Ferry, managed by Westmorland and Furness Council.
Ferry tickets are mostly bought on board using terminals which connect to the public 4G mobile network.
However, the system was inadequate because the network capacity and coverage frequently failed during busy times so fares could not be taken.
The plans added that it could lead to frustration for passengers who needed to queue for paper tickets during peak times and for staff who are required to manually check tickets.
It is hoped the 5G network will improve the experience for passengers so that they can purchase tickets on the ferry without needing to visit the office.
Other benefits of the mast would include improvements to parking payment management, water quality monitoring and water levels monitoring, the application said.
Plans added residents and tourists visiting the area would be able to benefit from the 5G network by purchasing an e-sim to expand the coverage on their devices to areas covered by Borderlands 5G project.
The smart camera will help with traffic monitoring along the B5285 approach road to the ferry landing point as well as providing live monitoring of ferry loading/unloading operations.
The planning application is under consideration.
