People power puts paid to mast plans
by Jenny Clarke
Epping Forest guardian
RESIDENTS said no to plans for a mobile phone mast in their road and Waltham Forest Council listened.
The authority turned down an application from T Mobile to put a ten-metre- high mast in North Countess Road, Walthamstow.
A petition against the scheme was signed by 125 people.
Three residents spoke against the proposal at last week's planning meeting.
Dr Kathy Haslam said: "The mast's beam of greatest intensity is directed towards the nearby houses and that is very worrying.Sensitive buildings such as schools and hospitals are not recommended to be within 100 metres of the base station and this would be a fraction of that distance."
The other residents said the mast would be out of keeping with the street scene.
Several applications for masts have been turned down by the council in the last year.
Cllr Terry Wheeler said he was concerned that T Mobile might lodge an appeal against the decision and have it approved by a Government planning inspector. "Most of us in this room have mobile phones and I would assume that many of the residents near the proposed site have mobile phones," he said.
"T Mobile did look into placing the mast elsewhere but it only has a small coverage area and this was its best option."
"If you were going to have mobile phones, you were going to need masts," he added.
The committee objected by a majority on the grounds that the mast would add to clutter and affect the amenity of the area.
Epping Forest guardian
RESIDENTS said no to plans for a mobile phone mast in their road and Waltham Forest Council listened.
The authority turned down an application from T Mobile to put a ten-metre- high mast in North Countess Road, Walthamstow.
A petition against the scheme was signed by 125 people.
Three residents spoke against the proposal at last week's planning meeting.
Dr Kathy Haslam said: "The mast's beam of greatest intensity is directed towards the nearby houses and that is very worrying.Sensitive buildings such as schools and hospitals are not recommended to be within 100 metres of the base station and this would be a fraction of that distance."
The other residents said the mast would be out of keeping with the street scene.
Several applications for masts have been turned down by the council in the last year.
Cllr Terry Wheeler said he was concerned that T Mobile might lodge an appeal against the decision and have it approved by a Government planning inspector. "Most of us in this room have mobile phones and I would assume that many of the residents near the proposed site have mobile phones," he said.
"T Mobile did look into placing the mast elsewhere but it only has a small coverage area and this was its best option."
"If you were going to have mobile phones, you were going to need masts," he added.
The committee objected by a majority on the grounds that the mast would add to clutter and affect the amenity of the area.
Starmail - 17. Okt, 11:46
