Ian McPherson A PLAN to improve mobile and internet connectivity which has split some of the most remote communities in the Yorkshire Dales has been given the go-ahead. The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority’s planning committee unanimously approved the installation of a 17m wooden utility pole with mobile communications antenna at West Scafton in Coverdale. The decision follows months of public meetings and debate across the national park over the health and environmental impact of Mobile Access North Yorkshire’s initiative to provide 4G and 5G mobile phone and broadband coverage to remote rural areas in the county. The project is also part of the wider Government-funded Rural Connected Communities programme. The project will look at how 4G and 5G technology will benefit rural communities and will specifically targeting areas with limited or no current coverage, ‘not spots’, which include the Coverdale area.