Southampton Echo 14 06 05

MAKING A POINT: Campaigners outside Hampshire County Council's headquarters (Mr Saunders is on the right). Echo pictures by Stuart Martin.

CAMPAIGNERS hoping to exploit a legal loophole in their fight against a Winchester phone mast have had their plans dashed by Hampshire County Council.

Alan and Anne Saunders, a city councillor, applied to buy the mast site in Byron Avenue and extinguish the highways rights.

That could have scuppered Orange 's five-year struggle to erect the mast.

However, Mr and Mrs Saunders needed county council permission and its Cabinet yesterday blocked their move.

The Saunders, of Chilbolton Avenue , whose garden is next to the site, said after the meeting they would report the council to the ombudsman for mismanagement.

They said their initial application to gain legal rights had gone smoothly and they had paid a £500 deposit.

However, they claimed the county had since dragged its heels over the application and their inquiries had been ignored.

At the specially-convened meeting, Alison Quant, director of environment and head of corporate affairs, urged Cabinet members to make their decision on whether the council should retain the land purely on highways grounds.

Mr Saunders and fellow campaigners Karen Barrett and Michael Etherington, spoke at the meeting.

They argued the land was not used by pedestrians or cyclists as it was part of the verge and there was pavement in front of it. The land had been maintained by residents for nearly 30 years.

Mr Saunders added that should the land come into his possession there would be a legally-binding covenant ensuring that nothing would be built there.

Councillors thought that the foliage was too overgrown and posed a risk to pedestrians and cyclists and the land should remain in council hands so that it could be maintained properly.

Councillors agreed with chief executive Peter Robertson that should the land go to Mr Saunders, the county would have no control over it.

Councillors upheld the recommendation to refuse Mr Saunders' application to extinguish highways rights on the land and to reimburse the fee of £500 already paid.

After the meeting, Mrs Barrett said: "The decision is no surprise, we are used to being dismissed."

Mr Saunders said: "It was ultimately predictable. They had a meeting two weeks ago which pre-empted this decision. It was just a democratic show. We are going to report them all to the ombudsman because of the way they proceeded with this. If there was no media action there would have been no meeting."

Crewe Guardian 14 06 05

RESIDENTS fighting against the rising number of mobile phone masts in Crewe have received a boost from the borough council.

Planning bosses refused permission for a further two masts in the town, while an application for a third was withdrawn, at a meeting of the development control committee meeting on Tuesday.

Residents have been so concerned about the soaring number of masts being erected they formed an action group last month called Coppenhall Residents Against Masts (CRAM).

Vodafone's plans for an 18-metre mast at Stewart Street sparked a flood of 152 objections on grounds that it would present an eyesore devaluing properties, health risks, and the fact that it was not needed as phone receptions are already good.

Planning chiefs refused the application because of visual impact on the area.

An application by Hutchinson 3G for a 15-metre mast at Newcastle Road in Shavington was objected to on grounds of visual intrusion, health risks and because of its impact on green belt land.

It was refused as it was considered an 'obtrusive feature which would detract from the character, appearance and openness of this green gap location'.

A second application by the same firm, for a 15-metre monopole at Chapel Lane in Coppenahall, met with 85 objections, relating to the invasion of the landscape, health concerns and the fact that there is already a 20-metre mast in the area.

The application was withdrawn, but had been facing refusal.

CRAM spokesman Patrick Sutton said he was delighted with the stance the council had taken on the applications.

He added: "I am very pleased that the council have taken this view and delighted that all the hard work that people have put in has finally paid off.

"I think if they do apply here again they will meet some stiff opposition."

Just thought I would forward this below from my MP Roger Berry who has agreed to sign the EDM etc. I have been hassling him for ages on this issue and always felt he was a bit reluctant so this is good news. He is a good friend of Ian Gibson MP (a big anti mast campaigner etc) so I have been regularly pushing this link.

John Elliott



John

Yes, to all of these! I've signed the EDM and contacted the group.

Best wishes

Roger

Roger Berry
MP for Kingswood



-----Original Message-----
From: Mastsanity.org
Sent: 31 May 2005 11:38
Subject: Why Not Encourage Your MP to Join the Parliamentary All Party Mobile Group and Support anti-Mast Early Day Motion(s) and Parliamentary Bill(s)

Dear All,

We are encouraging our MP (Humphrey Malins, Conservative, Woking) to become more active in the Mast debate at Westminster, by asking him to do the following. Why not send a letter to your MP, to ask that he/she does the same:-

· Can you please join the All Party Parliamentary Group on Mobile Communications, a Parliamentary group set up to encourage debate on a range of mobile issues, bringing together relevant stakeholders including consumers, industry, Parliamentarians and pressure groups. ( http://www.apmobile.org.uk )

· Can you please support the Parliamentary Bills, such as the recent/current one by Andrew Stunel MP, Liberal Democrat, Hazel Grove, "Telecommunications Masts (Planning Control) Bill", which will tighten planning controls on the siting of mobile masts. This has similar content to the 2004 Bill put forward by Richard Spring MP, Conservative, West Suffolk. Please also actively encourage support for this bill and similar future bills in Parliament.

· Can you please support the Early Day Motions against masts and help engage ‘masts and their health risks & suppressed research’ as urgent topics for discussions and parliamentary action. Currently there is EDM 67, MOBILE PHONE MASTS, 17.05.2005 by Caroline Spelman, Conservative, MP for Meriden and Shadow Secretary of State for Local Government Affairs and Communities ( http://www.carolinespelman.com ):-

"That this House notes that industry sources have recently indicated that 3G technology will require a substantial increase in the number of mobile phone masts, with as many as four times the present number, suggesting up to 200 more masts in every constituency; believes that the current planning process in England is inadequate, failing to consider local, environmental and safety concerns; observes that the Government is reviewing planning regulations for masts and that tougher protection is already in place in Scotland and Northern Ireland; and calls on the Government to introduce full planning permission for all masts, including Network Rail and TETRA masts, and to allow health concerns to be taken into account near homes, schools and hospitals."

Please also actively encourage support for this Early Day Motion and similar Early Day Motions in Parliament.

Regards,

Harelands Against the Masts ( http://www.nomasts.org.uk )

Letters to the Editor

Kenilworth Weekly News

To all who live in Kenilworth.

Vodafone and other phone companies are putting up antennas around the town. If they are given a licence to put one in the electricity substation in Caesar Road it will then put Kenilworth under a blanket of low to medium radiation.

This is something we do not want. It is time for us to tell Warwick District Council enough is enough.

We elect councillors to look after the people of Kenilworth and Warwickshire and not put them under the risk of radiation. The council can do something about this now before it is too late by refusing Vodafone a licence.

If they do give them a licence are they also going to take out a multi-million pound insurance cover against any future claims if it was proven radiation was the cause of people's cancers?

Because you the licensing authority, not knowing that it could not happen, would be partly responsible.

From: Mr D Hands, Oaks Road , Kenilworth.

13 June 2005

http://www.kenilworthtoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=698&ArticleID=1053998

by NERMIN OOMER

Burton Mail

BURTON ’S MP has backed villagers involved in a dispute with a telecommunications company over the installation of a mobile phone mast.

Janet Dean MP has contacted phone giant 02 about the siting of a controversial mast in Stretton.

The company sparked outrage on Monday after contractors began to lay the foundations for a mast in Hillfield Lane , Stretton.

East Staffordshire Borough Council approved a planning application for the mast in January, despite more than 50 objections from residents concerned about health risks.

However at the time the firm agreed to look for an alternative site and said it would notify the council if any work was to begin. It did not do this before contractors began laying the mast’s foundations earlier this week.

Work was halted on the mast in Hillfield Lane on Tuesday and 02 said that a change of contractors meant the work had mistakenly gone ahead.

Mrs Dean said she had telephoned the chief executive of 02 on Tuesday after work had begun on the site.

She said: "I know from Councillor Ron Clarke that residents remain concerned because the company are not at the moment removing the foundations that have been installed.

"While I can understand the reluctance of 02 to remove the foundations until a new site is agreed, I have pressed 02 for reassurances. In particular, I have asked for confirmation that even though planning permission has been obtained for the Hillfield Lane site, the construction of the mast will not go ahead there, providing a suitable alternative site can be agreed."

An 02 spokesman told the Mail at the time work on the mast had been "postponed" and that workers were looking for an alternative site once more.

The spokesman said: "Unfortunately there was a change of personnel and the sites that were going to be looked at were never progressed."

by Charlie Stong

Wanstead and Woodford Guardian

AFTER almost four years of fighting, residents living in a street plagued by mobile phone masts admit that big business has finally won the day.

Carnarvon Road in South Woodford was dubbed 'cancer street' in 2001 as we revealed that five out of seven houses next to a mobile phone base station were homes to victims of the disease.

At the time there were 16 masts on the one station in Carnarvon Road, and an independent study revealed the street contained some of the worst microwave levels' of any street in the country.

However, another study in 2002 said that radiation emissions in Carnarvon Road were below Government guidelines.

In May, 2003, three more masts were erected on the Forest House site after a Bristol-based planning inspectorate overturned Redbridge Council's decision to veto the plans. But physicist Dr Peter Wright, who lives in the road and who has in the past helped the cancer victims in their battle against the phone giants, this week reluctantly admitted the companies may have finally won the day.

He said: "It's very sad to say, but we have all but given up the ghost now.

"Sadly everyone these days seems to want a mobile phone. Mobile phone masts are popping up everywhere, the Government earns massive revenue from the industry and the companies are now global.

"Unfortunately, it seems that big business has won the day," he added. Another resident Constance Nash, who is waiting for the all-clear after a fight against breast cancer, feared her disease may have been linked to the masts some of which have been in the street for 20 years. This week, the 84-year-old admitted that she too was getting fed up with the situation and couldn't campaign against the companies any more. The Government received an instant £22.5bn from selling third generation (3G) licences, and the tax from phone companies is now worth more than £1bn per year.

A statement from watchdog PowerWatch said: "They're promoting mobile communications and have made it very difficult for local planning authorities to refuse mast applications."

Ilford North MP Lee Scott has spoken in the House of Commons and signed an early day motion calling on the Government to give more power to local authorities when it comes to rejecting mast applications. He said it was wrong that masts could still not be rejected purely on health grounds.

Dr Wright added: "It's just like smoking. By the time everyone finds out about the dangers people are already doing it. We should change the health grounds law but it seems it is too late."

cstong@london.newsquest.co.uk

3:00pm Sunday 12th June 2005

I was so sorry to hear your bad news, Karen.

Sandi


Land buy in doubt

Hampshire Chronicle

Campaigners battling to stop a mobile phone company erecting a mast on land near a Winchester school could have their plans to buy the land thwarted.

Passions are already running high over the issue, but could get hotter if recommendations made by county council officers to block the purchase are supported by councillors at next week's cabinet meeting on Monday (June 13).

Last week, the Hampshire Chronicle reported that the latest bid by campaigners, who have been fighting the mast for over four years, was to buy the controversial patch of land in Byron Avenue .

Alan and Anne Saunders, who live in Chilbolton Avenue , next to the land, said their initial application to the council to gain legal rights had gone smoothly and they had paid a £500 deposit.

But they claimed the county had dragged its heels since over the application and their inquiries about it had been ignored.

In the latest twist, supporters of the bid have been angered by news that the authority has been directed by officers to block the application at Monday's specially-convened cabinet meeting.

Karen Barratt, who has spearheaded the campaign against Orange 's plans and will be speaking at Monday's meeting, said: "I hope the cabinet will ignore this recommendation.

"The points made in the officers' report all relate to maintaining an open aspect of the mast site. The fact that Orange is planning to erect a 12m mast there with a large equipment cabin seems to have escaped the council's notice."

Last week, a HCC spokesman said the matter was complicated because Orange had planning permission and that if the application went further, the mobile phone giant would certainly "fight it".

The cabinet meeting on Monday will be in the main council chamber and will be open to the public.

by the staff of the Chester-le-Street Advertiser

PLANNERS are being urged to block an application to put up a 12-metre high mobile phone mast in a north Durham estate.

Telecommunications company O2 wants to put the antennae in the middle of the Garden Farm Estate in Chester-le-Street.

The proposal for land south of Carlingford Road has sparked a letter writing campaign from residents who are opposed.

Chester-le-Street District Council has received 600 letters of protest over the issue.

The campaign was started by Garden Farm Residents' Association and supported by south ward councillor Linda Ebbatson.

Coun Ebbatson, who is also council leader, said: "It is a wholly inappropriate site for the installation as it is a central location in the estate, which is virtually open plan.

"It would be very intrusive and affect the visual amenity. We want to upgrade this area - not downgrade."

Other residents are opposed to the mast because of health fears and feel it is too near their properties. The nearest house is ten metres from the site.

Householders also feel the mast will devalue their properties and that potential noise could affect their sleeping patterns.

Protestors fear the mast could affect road safety, could become a distraction for drivers and become a congregating point for children.

O2 wants to strengthen its third generation mobile phone coverage in the area.

No one from the company was available for comment.

Council officers express their reservations about the plan in a report for the planning committee who will make a final decision next week.

It said: "In this instance the height of the proposed installation, relevant to other buildings and street furniture in the area, is considered to represent a form of development inappropriate for the proposed location, which would be harmful to the character and visual amenity of the area.

"It is considered that the applicants have failed to submit the appropriate justification of the need for the development.

"They have failed to adequately demonstrate that any alleged need could not be met via the installation of an antenna on existing buildings in the surrounding area."

The planning committee meets at Chester-le-Street Civic Centre on Monday.

Essex Gazette

JOHN PEACHEY

18:00 - 09 June 2005

Hundreds of Witham people today hit out at plans to build a mobile phone mast on a crowded estate near two schools. More than 400 residents from the proposed site off Spa Road , opposite Powers Hall Junior and Infant Schools, have signed a petition begging Braintree District Council to do all it can to refuse planning permission for the 14 metre high mast.

Now Suzanne Bartley, head of the junior school, has added her objections. She and the chairman of governors, Margaret Galione, a district councillor, have written a letter of objection to the phone company Hutchison 3G, reminding them of the proximity of the schools to the proposed site.

"This is of great concern to both schools," said Mrs Bartley. "The tower would be extremely close to us, definitely too close for comfort. It seems very strange to put it in the middle of an estate and close to two schools which have about 700 children on one site here. I hate to think how many more live nearby.

"I am sure there must be another site which would serve the area without causing this very great concern to us and the other residents."

The petition, which is still growing, has been raised by Brian and Brenda Bunn, of Brain Road, who live 15ft from the proposed site between Eden Close and Avon Walk.

"It's such a daft place to put it," he said. "It's ludicrous to try to build it in the middle of an estate when there are so many open spaces around, like next to a railway bank or in a field. Support is building up day by day."

Simon Gurden, of Eden Road, on the other side of the site, is worried about the health of his one-year-old daughter, Coral. A second child is on the way. "There is no hard proof that the radiation from these masts is safe, particularly for small children. It would also look extremely ugly."

Omega see under:
http://www.buergerwelle.de/body_science.html

A spokesman for Hutchison 3G said their technology complied with the latest safety standards, and the company was satisfied the mast would blend in with the surroundings.

The application for planning permission will be discussed by district councillors within the next month.

The case follows similar situations in Hatfield Peverel and Feering, where residents have opposed masts and called on councillors for help.

Planning chief Les Mitchell said it was possible to refuse permission, but phone companies were free to appeal.

"Technically, radiation from the aerials is not a reason to refuse planning permission, but we are told to be sensitive to health concerns."

Witham Town Council's planning committee recommended on Monday evening that permission for the mast be refused. Members felt it would be detrimental to neighbouring amenities and an unsightly intrusion into the street scene.

by Ewen McNamee

Jun 10 2005

A LIVINGSTON community are celebrating another victory in their ongoing battle against mobile phone masts.

Plans to build a 14.5 metre mast at the Territorial Army (TA) centre in Beveridge Square, Dedridge, were narrowly rejected by councillors at a meeting last week.

West Lothian Council’s development control sub-committee voted by five votes to four to refuse the application, following sustained pressure from the Dedridge community.

A petition organised by local resident Archie Douglas, combined with a united campaign by Councillor Danny Logue and Dedridge Community Council, helped persuade councillors to vote against the council’s planning officers’ recommendations.

Dedridge Councillor Danny Logue explained: “This is our third time in defeating the same application and, of course, we are very pleased.

“Our main concern was how close the mast was to the James Young High School and nearby houses and what long-term impact it could have on people’s health.

“It is pleasing to think we have scored a victory over a large multi-national corporation.

“There are a number of phone mast applications in the pipeline for Dedridge, including one coming up soon for Staunton Pond, so this won’t be the last battle we have to fight.”

He added: “I hope now we can have a round-the-table meeting with planning officers, the mobile phone companies and Dedridge Community Council.

“There are more acceptable locations for masts, and we would like them to look into mast sharing in the town centre as well, to limit the number in the area.

“I know they are unsightly but the main priority must be keeping them away from schools and residential areas. I recently counted four masts at the Lizzie Brice garage alone.”

Vodaphone hoped to use the planned mast to provide coverage for Livingston town centre, specifically to improve 3G coverage in the area.

They currently have a mast at council headquarters on the roof of West Lothian House, which is due to be removed next year.

Consultations are being held on a number of possible 3G phone masts sites across West Lothian, with residents in Bathgate and Livingston Village already campaigning against masts in their areas.