AN EMERGENCY meeting was held in Pinner this week to help find an appropriate site for a phone mast, granted because of a council blunder.
The mast, which was only given the go ahead because of an administrative error, was earmarked for a small grass island close to the junction of Rayners Lane and Grove Road.
Even though planning chiefs at Harrow Council rejected the proposal, they forgot to send out notices to Orange, the phone company behind the plans, in the given time frame.
As a result, the mast was given the thumbs-up by default and council officers were forced to write to residents to explain their error.
But uproar from the community and backing from Gareth Thomas, MP for Harrow West, meant Orange agreed to consider alternative sites for the mast.
At the meeting on Tuesday, the council's team and representatives of Pinner residents came together to discuss alternative spots to place the mast.
It is thought the favoured location for the mast is in Chapel Lane Car Park, but if this is not agreed upon, Orange could go ahead with the original site.
One resident who asked not to be named, told the Observer: "I think it is fair to say that there isn't anywhere in Pinner that people actually want a mast, but it is about choosing the lesser of the evils now.
"It's just a shame that the planning department couldn't do what it was supposed to in the first place and that its incompetence has allowed for this mast to sneak under the radar."
If the mast is placed in Chapel Lane Car Park it is not known how it would effect the changes being made to accommodate a new Surestart centre in Pinner Village Hall, which is also in Chapel Lane Car Park.
It is thought a youth centre there will be transformed to be used as the Surestart centre, part of a government initiative to provide early years education centres across the country.
The same car park has been plagued by difficult planning issues in the past as well.
It is the site of the village's only public toilet, which residents have for years campaigned to have replaced.
However, although planning approval may be given for the mast there, a new toilet at the same site was rejected.
