History
Westley Heights, just east of Basildon, was originally established by Pye (Philips) Telecommunications. In 1985 BT sought planning permission for an "intermediate microwave radio station" nearby. The initial proposal was for a modular "Type 8A" tower, to be shared with Philips. The plans were revised, resulting in a more conventional "pylon" design, still on a shared basis.
A sketch map included with the planning application for Hertford Heath indicates Westley Heights was intended as the first intermediate site on a new route from London to France via Canterbury. For reasons not detailed in the planning documents approval was not granted until April 1993 - calling into question whether the new route was ever operational as originally intended. The site is still used by BT for local linking but, as with Hertford Heath, we are unable to confirm it ever formed part of the trunk network.
The site has been used for a number of cross-channel High Frequency Trading links (at least one via the BT Rough Common site) and a planning application was submitted in 2013 for a second tower. Although approved (on appeal) late in 2014 it does not appear to have been developed.
