History
Westley Heights, just east of Basildon, was originally established by Pye Telecommunications. In 1984 BT sought planning permission for an "intermediate microwave radio station" nearby but this was refused and it appears the exising site was then shared. This provided an additional cross-channel route, continuing via new sites at Rough Common (Canterbury) and Archers Court (Dover) which were built in the same era. Planning documents for Archers Court show a proposed intermediate site at "Chatham" which would link London and Canterbury - it seems Westley Heights was a substitute in the final plan. The use of a shared structure probably constrained the capacity of the new route but migration of the trunk network to fibre meant the "new" 1980s routes were not utilised to the extent originally envisaged.
The nature of the link between Westley Heights and London is unclear - Basildon is shown on a planned route for fibre in the early 1980s so this option might have been used rather than the SHF link originally intended. The BT link probably closed during the early 2000s but Westley Heights has been used subesequently for a number of cross-channel High Frequency Trading links (at least one runs via the BT Rough Common site). A planning application was submitted in 2013 for a second tower - this was approved on appeal late in 2014 but work had not started by the end of 2016.
