MPS OUTLINE PHONE FEAR
This is Exeter
12:00 - 20 May 2005
A Devon MP has expressed concern over claims that the third generation phone technology could mean the number of masts in the county could quadruple.
Angela Browning, the Tory MP for Tiverton and Honiton, said it was time for the Government to heed its promise to listen to communities if an invasion of mobile phone masts was to be stopped in its tracks.
She said: "We have seen an explosion in mobile phone masts and there have been a number of highly controversial ones in my constituency.
"It now appears that there will be many more because the Government has refused to take on board the guidelines of the Stewart Report."
Tory local government affairs spokesman Caroline Spelman claimed in a Commons Early Day Motion that the operators of 3G technology had indicated that "as many as four times the present number" of masts will soon be needed.
That would equate to as many as 200 more masts in constituencies such as Exeter and Tiverton and Honiton.
Mrs Browning, the shadow local government minister, said: "This is a key test of the Government. On May 6 outside Number 10, Mr Blair said he would listen. He now needs to listen to people's very real concerns about mobile phone masts."
Ms Spelman said that the 3G operators were making available to MPs maps which pinpoint new base stations. But Mrs Browning said she had yet to see one.
She said: "The nature of the 3G phones, which require video quality, means masts need to be closer together and there will need to be many more of them.
"The Government is refusing to adopt the precautionary approach outlined in the Stewart Report."
Ms Spelman's motion also calls for full planning permission to be introduced for masts under 15 metres as well as over this height.
The Echo's Shock Waves campaign, launched in 2002, has called for more research to be carried out into the health implications of masts.
The campaign recently highlighted the battle by residents and businesses to oppose a proposed 3G mast in Heavitree Road, close to schools, nurseries and the city's maternity hospital.
Hundreds of people signed a petition to Vodafone telling the company that the proposed site was not appropriate for a mast.
Christine Jude, of the Mobile Operators' Association, questioned predictions that the number of masts were set to quadruple.
She said: "There are currently a total of 45,000 base station sites in the UK and the mobile phone operators estimate that this figure is likely to rise to around 50,000 by the end of 2007.
"Imposing full planning on all mobile phone development will do nothing to address community concerns. Rather, it will hold up the development of the next generation of mobile networks, to the detriment of businesses and communities alike."
12:00 - 20 May 2005
A Devon MP has expressed concern over claims that the third generation phone technology could mean the number of masts in the county could quadruple.
Angela Browning, the Tory MP for Tiverton and Honiton, said it was time for the Government to heed its promise to listen to communities if an invasion of mobile phone masts was to be stopped in its tracks.
She said: "We have seen an explosion in mobile phone masts and there have been a number of highly controversial ones in my constituency.
"It now appears that there will be many more because the Government has refused to take on board the guidelines of the Stewart Report."
Tory local government affairs spokesman Caroline Spelman claimed in a Commons Early Day Motion that the operators of 3G technology had indicated that "as many as four times the present number" of masts will soon be needed.
That would equate to as many as 200 more masts in constituencies such as Exeter and Tiverton and Honiton.
Mrs Browning, the shadow local government minister, said: "This is a key test of the Government. On May 6 outside Number 10, Mr Blair said he would listen. He now needs to listen to people's very real concerns about mobile phone masts."
Ms Spelman said that the 3G operators were making available to MPs maps which pinpoint new base stations. But Mrs Browning said she had yet to see one.
She said: "The nature of the 3G phones, which require video quality, means masts need to be closer together and there will need to be many more of them.
"The Government is refusing to adopt the precautionary approach outlined in the Stewart Report."
Ms Spelman's motion also calls for full planning permission to be introduced for masts under 15 metres as well as over this height.
The Echo's Shock Waves campaign, launched in 2002, has called for more research to be carried out into the health implications of masts.
The campaign recently highlighted the battle by residents and businesses to oppose a proposed 3G mast in Heavitree Road, close to schools, nurseries and the city's maternity hospital.
Hundreds of people signed a petition to Vodafone telling the company that the proposed site was not appropriate for a mast.
Christine Jude, of the Mobile Operators' Association, questioned predictions that the number of masts were set to quadruple.
She said: "There are currently a total of 45,000 base station sites in the UK and the mobile phone operators estimate that this figure is likely to rise to around 50,000 by the end of 2007.
"Imposing full planning on all mobile phone development will do nothing to address community concerns. Rather, it will hold up the development of the next generation of mobile networks, to the detriment of businesses and communities alike."
Starmail - 21. Mai, 00:27
