THE "bulky" and "brutalist" Dunfermline Telephone Exchange building is set to receive three new antennas after councillors granted approval.
Despite some community concerns about the impact on the skyline, the West and Central planning committee said there were no grounds to refuse the application.
At 21.3 metres tall, the three new antennas will still be shorter than existing equipment on the roof of the building on Abbey Park Place.
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The planning authority said the additional equipment will have “no significant detrimental impact upon the surrounding area or the overall conservation area”.
The telephone exchange sits within the city’s outstanding conservation area.
However, council members and planning officers described the building as "bulky", "modernist" and even "brutalist".
A report said: “It contributes little to the character of the outstanding conservation area and planning permission has been granted for the addition of similar apparatus to its roof over a period of 20 years.”
The application from Cellnex was recommended for approval despite eight community objections – six of which raised concerns about visual impact.
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A justification statement, that the development is required to improve the connectivity to the local area, was provided.
“It is considered that the proposed alterations including the addition of three new antenna would have no additional visual impact upon the surrounding environment with the proposed works all being lower on the roof than the highest infrastructure that currently exists on the roof,” a committee report explained.
“The impact on the character of the conservation area from this building and the existing telecoms equipment to the roof would not be significantly further impacted by the addition of the proposed three new antenna and ancillary equipment.”
Committee members unanimously approved the application.
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