An appeal has been lodged after plans to boost emergency services communications coverage in the Dales with the 4G replacement of existing masts were refused.

An application by Airwave Solutions Ltd to remove two 22ft (7.5m) high Airwave poles at Ribblehead Quarry, Low Sleights Road, near Ingleton, and replace them with a 65ft (20m) tower with antennae and dishes for the Airwave network and the Emergency Services Network (ESN) was turned down by the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority in May.

The scheme also proposes a new cabin on an existing concrete base at the site together with a standby cabin on a new base, plus other dishes and poles, and all enclosed in a new security compound.

The officer delegated refusal decision has now been appealed by Airwave Solutions and will now be decided by a planning inspector for the Government's Planning Inspectorate following written submissions.

The report of the national park planning officer in May last year acknowledged the public benefits of the proposal, supported by Settle, Ingleton and Bentham Mobile Rural Watch and Craven District Fire Service, but recommended refusal because of the proposal's 'significant harm' to the visual amenity in a 'highly sensitive' area of the national park close to the Yorkshire Three Peaks and the Settle-Carlisle Railway.

It states that the proposed development forms part of the Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme (ESMCP) - a Home Office led programme responsible for replacing the current Emergency Services mobile radio system (Airwave) providing an integrated voice and broadband data communications service for the three emergency services.

Its intention is to 'provide additional infrastructure to extend the ESN into remote and commercially unviable areas where there is little or no mobile network coverage'.

It would also be 'future-proofed' in that it would be able to accommodate the Shared Rural Network (SRN) to provide 4G coverage to the general public.

The report states alternatives had been suggested to the structure to limit the visual impact, but had been rejected due to 'operational constraints'. The option of relocating the proposed site had also been considered, but no alternative suitable to needs had been identified.

The report states: "The proposed development would provide the emergency servies with improved 4G voice and data services, thereby improving the efficiency of the emergency services within this remote location, as such the development would have clear, public benefits.

"The development would also result in significant harm to visual amenity within a highly sensitive and popular national park landscape. In such instances, the statutory purposes must take precedence and the proposed development cannot be supported."

The national park is currently considering plans for a Shared Rural Network 25m high telecommunications mast off Philpin Lane, Chapel-le-dale, next to the Yorkshire Three Peaks route between Whernside and Ingleborough.