Even if you detest this mast, don't pull it down
Worcester News
31.12.05
CAMPAIGNERS who unsuccessfully fought against a phone mast being put up are begging people not to take matters into their own hands and tear it down.
Instead, they are hoping the local government ombudsman takes up their cause and looks into how the city council conducted its planning consultation.
Despite protests, threats of legal action and intervention from MP Mike Foster, mobile firm O2 won permission to put up a mast on Woodgreen Drive in Warndon Villages, Worcester, and it went up a fortnight ago.
Campaign member Grant Hughes, of Hingley Avenue, said: "We don't want anybody taking matters into their own hands. We don't want any criminal damage.
"We've been amazed by the strength of feeling and people are still fuming.
"There are people on this estate who are saying: `It won't stay up for long'. We have to be clear that we don't want to do anything against the law."
Police were called last month when workmen laying cables for the mast said they were being threatened by protesters.
At the start of this month a phone mast in Hampton, near Evesham, was pulled down, causing damage valued at thousands of pounds.
Mr Hughes added: "We've been told that we've got a good case for the ombudsman to find the council negligent because we believe that the plans didn't show how wide the mast would be and that some residents backing on to the site weren't consulted."
Earlier this month, Mr Foster proposed a motion condemning O2 as "arrogant and high-handed".
O2 said it looked at other sites proposed by local residents but they were unavailable or unsuitable.
No one from the planning department of Worcester City Council was available at the time the Worcester News went to press.
31.12.05
CAMPAIGNERS who unsuccessfully fought against a phone mast being put up are begging people not to take matters into their own hands and tear it down.
Instead, they are hoping the local government ombudsman takes up their cause and looks into how the city council conducted its planning consultation.
Despite protests, threats of legal action and intervention from MP Mike Foster, mobile firm O2 won permission to put up a mast on Woodgreen Drive in Warndon Villages, Worcester, and it went up a fortnight ago.
Campaign member Grant Hughes, of Hingley Avenue, said: "We don't want anybody taking matters into their own hands. We don't want any criminal damage.
"We've been amazed by the strength of feeling and people are still fuming.
"There are people on this estate who are saying: `It won't stay up for long'. We have to be clear that we don't want to do anything against the law."
Police were called last month when workmen laying cables for the mast said they were being threatened by protesters.
At the start of this month a phone mast in Hampton, near Evesham, was pulled down, causing damage valued at thousands of pounds.
Mr Hughes added: "We've been told that we've got a good case for the ombudsman to find the council negligent because we believe that the plans didn't show how wide the mast would be and that some residents backing on to the site weren't consulted."
Earlier this month, Mr Foster proposed a motion condemning O2 as "arrogant and high-handed".
O2 said it looked at other sites proposed by local residents but they were unavailable or unsuitable.
No one from the planning department of Worcester City Council was available at the time the Worcester News went to press.
Starmail - 31. Dez, 09:34
