JEREMY Hunt has criticised Tony Blair and is calling on the Prime Minister to stop ignoring the concerns of local communities about the siting of mobile phone masts. The newly elected MP for South West Surrey is meeting representatives from mobile operator Orange to discuss 13 new mast planning applications around the south Bourne area. “We all want to be able to use a mobile phone, but this doesn’t mean masts should be constructed without any regard for the well- being of local people in south-west Surrey,” he said. “It is time for Mr Blair to start listening and stop ignoring the views of local communities. As your member of parliament I will be calling on Mr Blair’s government to address the feelings of powerlessness and frustration experienced by those living under the threat of badly sited masts,” he added. One of the sites Mr Hunt will be discussing at the meeting concerns the proposed site on Waverley Lane, opposite Bourne Infant School. Niki Hearnshaw, campaign co-ordinator for the Bourne School Masts Action Group, said: “It is great news that this meeting is taking place and that Mr Hunt is helping us with our campaign against the siting of this mast.” Ms Hearnshaw has been invited to attend the meeting to discuss her concerns about the mast. “I am delighted to get the opportunity speak with Orange face to face. I want them to know that there is no way we will give up our fight no matter how long it takes,” she said. “The fundamental problem is that Orange has failed to fulfil their promise to consult with the school and the local community about the siting of the mast.” All Ms Hearnshaw’s children have attended the school and she is worried out the health effects of the mast on the children. “The mast will be about 50 metres from the school and because the school is on a hill the mast’s beam will be in line with the playground. We have had this independently verified by local radiologists,” she said. And in a further boost for protesters, BBC television cameras visited Bourne Infant School on Wednesday to publicise its fight against the possible siting of a mast nearby the school. A statement from Orange said: “We are currently reconsidering a number of proposals as a direct result of the consultation undertaken at The Bush Hotel back in April. “We understand the strength of feeling among the local community and although we have a few options left available to us, we have agreed to revisit some of the previously discounted alternative sites. We hope to have made some final decisions about which sites we will be progressing within the next two months. The footage taken at Bourne Infant School will be broadcast on BBC’s South Today during the news coverage of the meeting between Jeremy Hunt, Niki Hearnshaw and representatives from Orange at the House of Commons on Tuesday, May 31.

Kenilworth Today

Fears for the health of their children and the environment have prompted parents to tackle mobile phone giant Vodafone over a proposed mast. The world's largest mobile phone company plans to construct a 12-metre high mast on the corner of Beehive Hill and Birmingham Road, yards away from Priors Field School and even closer to resident's homes.

The planned mast falls short of the 15-metre limit, which requires planning permission and so is exempt from the need for formal consent from Warwick District Council.

Arvine Bird, who lives opposite the proposed site and has three young children, said: "Warwickshire County Council has actually banned these masts on the top of school buildings so there is obviously a question mark over the safety of them.

"The health risks cannot be proven but this does not mean they can be disproved either."

Clinton Lane resident Bob Owens believes the mast is needed to improve reception in the area, particularly for photo messaging.

He said: "It will damage the environment - it is on the approach to Kenilworth, close to a school and nursery and will be within 15 metres of residents' properties. It is something we do not want.

"The people who are going to suffer will be the people around it and nobody is sure yet what damage these things can do."

Gillian Gould, a lunchtime supervisor at Priors Field, remembers fighting a similar plan by Orange seven years ago.

She said: "It's absolute madness to put a mast next to a school with over 200 children. The playing fields back right onto Chase Lane. Orange didn't get away with it when they tried so hopefully Vodafone won't either."

But Steve Maggs, who works as a scientist at the University of Warwick, said: "Most of the research done suggests there are no problems with any of these masts. It's not necessarily harmful and a lot of the concerns have been brought about by scaremongering."

Vodafone has embarked on a consultation process inviting nearby residents, schools, councils and councillors to give their opinions before making a final decision.

People living near the site have written their objections to ward councillors and Vodafone, and a petition has also been circulated in the neighbourhood.

Coun Michael Coker (Con, Abbey) said: "As far as the masts are concerned we have to approach them very carefully, one because they tend to be ugly and two because people are still concerned about the health aspects. Whether they are right or wrong I understand their feelings.

"My own feeling is that if we have to have them, they should be well away from houses in the middle of a field."

A spokeswoman for Vodafone explained that other potential locations had been investigated but this is a preferred site.

She added: "Nothing is set in stone. We will take people's views on board and then we will make a decision."

27 May 2005

May 27 2005

Dorking and Leatherhead

By Daniel Edwards

A PROPOSAL by a major telecommunications company to install a mobile phone mast is causing concern among residents in Fetcham.

Mobile phone firm Vodafone has approached Mole Valley District Council to install a mast off Shamrock Close, Fetcham.

But residents living in the close are concerned about their health and the subsequent impact on the value of their properties.

Michael Cliff, who is already living 50ft from another telecommunications mast belonging to T-Mobile, said the new mast will be 28ft from his fence.

He is one of a group of residents to have written a letter in protest to the planning department to express his concerns about having a second mast placed next to his bungalow.

"When I spoke to the council they didn't seem bothered about our concerns of the impact on our health and the effects this might have on the value our property," said Mr Cliff, 73. "I am not in very good health at the moment so I am concerned about what effect this will have on me, and the value of our property.

"I have spent £28,000 on improvements on the house, but if the planning department allow the mast to be built I will never be able to sell. "If the second phone mast goes up it won't matter where you sit in the garden because all you will be able to see are these masts. "We already have one phone mast in the village so why do we need a second?"

Mole Valley's area planning manager, Gary Rhoades-Brown said: "It is inappropriate for any comment to be made on an application, but all material circumstances are fully considered before any decision is made by the council."

Jane Frapwell, public relations officer for Vodafone, said: "All Vodafone installations are designed to be compliant with stringent international guidelines and they are recommended by Government and have the general backing from the World Health Organisation.

"The guidelines are in place to protect all of us whether the mast is one or 1,000 metres away."

Florence Jack, who lives opposite Mr Cliff on Shamrock Close has written to Mole Valley's planning department and MP Sir Paul Beresford objecting to the proposal.

She said: "I wrote to the council when they put up the first mast. It's bad enough having one there, it will be visually intrusive.

"Why are they going to place the mast in a populated area?"

Chester Now

PLACARD-waving protesters took to the street to show their anger against plans for a second mobile phone mast in their Chester community.

Residents in Newhall Road, Upton, are angered by the plans to build an O2 mast at the junction of Newhall Road and Handford Road.
The worried residents are concerned about the potential health effects of the base station, as they are officially called, and believe a new mast would be another eyesore.

If built, it would be the second one in the area. Hutchinson 3G has already built one, despite opposition from more than 300 residents.
One of the residents angered by the plans is Sylvia Molloy, 68, who lives on Newhall Road. She was at the forefront of the protest against the 3G mast and now plans to campaign against the new proposals. “No-one wanted the first in this area, let alone another,” she said. “The first mast is a blot on the landscape and I believe this new one will damage my view further. If they built another, we would have two big masts in this area. “On top of that, there are the health risks. I am very concerned about it. There will be children walking past this mast all the time.” And because the mast is under 15 metres high, the plans will not go to a full committee meeting. Instead it will be decided by planning officials.

Upton parish councillor Pete Griffiths said: “It seems bad that it will not go to full planning committee. What are councillors for? This will probably be decided by people do not know where Upton is. “We have too many masts in Upton as it is. We do not need another one. Why can’t they put it somewhere in Chester that does not have so many.”

Andrew Kelleher, a spokesman for O2, said: “This mast is designed to look like street furniture so it will not look particularly bad. “O2 recognise the public’s concerns over health effects and we would like to say we work with experts and regulators and also we work within stringent guidelines. “But we need to put a mast in there to improve reception in a high demand area.”

Dundee Evening Telegraph and Post

Mobile phone company Vodafone will be able to put up a 14.5-metre mast in Strathmartine Road, Dundee, after the Scottish Executive overturned a decision by councillors.

Last year the development quality committee voted 21 to six to refuse planning permission for the mast, close to Cox Street, on the grounds that it was near an existing mast and would affect the environmental quality enjoyed by residents.

Council officials had recommended approval because Vodafone had looked at 18 alternative sites but had been forced to discard them because they were technically unsuitable or too close to houses.

Vodafone appealed to the Executive’s planning inquiry unit. A company spokeswoman said the mast was needed to improve customer service and its height was not unusual for an urban area.

The Executive has now granted planning permission for the development, including an antenna, equipment housing and compound, to go ahead at 534b Strathmartine Road.

Meanwhile, Airwave O2 has lodged an application asking the council to remove a specific no TETRA condition imposed on a mast at Peacehill Farm, by Wormit, even although they have no plans to use the site.

In February, North East Fife Environment and Development Committee approved an application by Orange PCS for a 13-metre mobile phone (2G) mast. But, because of objections from locals and health concerns associated with the controversial TETRA system, councillors added a condition there should be no addition of such equipment at the site.

A spokesman from Airwave O2 defended TETRA and said they could not let the condition go without fighting against it.

He said; “We have no plans, or need for a mast or a site share. But we felt on principle we couldn’t let this blatant discrimination against TETRA go un-opposed and are asking for that condition to be removed.”

Arthur Jarrett, who has campaigned against TETRA masts and is a member of Scottish Action on TETRA, praised councillors for including the condition in the original application and urged concerned locals to object to Airwave’s attempt to have the ban removed.

He said; “I think it was the first time a local authority had done such a thing and councillors thought carefully about this condition.

“It can’t have been well received, especially as some of these companies have exercised an almost devious right to do what they like elsewhere.

“Airwave O2 simply don’t want any council development committee acting in the interest of communities and pro-actively blocking them out. They certainly don’t want Fife councillors to create such a dangerous precedent, which might sensibly be followed elsewhere.

“This is really the company and industry teaching councillors all over Britain a lesson, putting them in their place and making sure they stay there.

“Local people who have appreciated the effort made by North East Fife councillors, now require to act swiftly again to object to Airwave O2’s application to undo their protection.”

This is Kent

BY ALEXANDRA CHALMERS

15:00 - 27 May 2005

Angry residents in North Tonbridge have protested against a mobile phone mast being erected on their doorstep.

Plans for the controversial mast on land at the junction of Hunt Road and Constable Road have raised concerns among residents over its visual impact and the possible effects on their health.

Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council originally refused planning permission for the 11.7m high mast last June.

However T-Mobile appealed and a visit was made to the site in March by a Secretary of State-appointed inspector.

The inspector decided to grant permission for the slimline monopole that will hold three antennas and a microwave dish on the area that already holds gas and electricity units.

But residents are angry that the mast has been allowed in a densely populated residential area that lies between Woodlands Infant and Junior Schools and the playgroup held at the Methodist church.

Resident Betty O'Loughlin put together a petition with nearly 200 signatures when the original application was made last year.

She was disappointed by the decision and said: "I don't know what else we can do. I don't know why they have put it there when people will be walking past all the time."

Mrs O'Loughlin, who was in the Auxiliary Territorial Service during the war, was most concerned about the health effects and said: "The government said the same thing about radar and how it wouldn't do any harm, but I know for a fact that one man I worked with had a rash for the rest of his life from his contact with a radar mast."

Another Hunt Road resident, George Carey, who will be able to see the mast from his bedroom window said: "It will be unsightly and could pose long-term risks to the health of the surrounding residents."

The 58-year-old said that as both he and his wife Jennifer were disabled they were in the house more than the average family.

He also suspected that Kent County Council, which is believed to own the island, would receive a generous rent from the mast as he claimed £5,000 was offered to the Methodist church as developers originally wanted to place it there.

A spokesman for the county council denied this and said money was only offered for private land.

Stephanie Genner, of Hunt Road, has a 15-year-old son with cystic fibrosis and she wrote an initial letter of objection.

She said: "We don't know the effects on people's health and I need to maintain my health for when my son gets more ill."

But a report published by the National Radiological Protection Board in 2000 concluded: "The balance of evidence indicates that there is no general risk to the health of people living near base stations, on the basis that exposures are expected to be small fractions of guidelines."

Mrs O'Loughlin disagreed and said she had read an article in a national newspaper about a man who had managed to roast a chicken on the top of a mobile mast.

The expert who led the research, NRPB chairman Sir William Stewart added: "Some people worry about the radio waves from mobile phone masts and we want to provide as much clear information as we can on this topic.

"Many of the concerns can relate to planning matters rather than scientific and health issues. This is a matter we expect to return to when NRPB issues a statement on mobile phones and health later this year."

Despite this, new information released by the group this year recommended that exposure to vulnerable groups such as children should be minimised.

Another planning application has been put forward by T-Mobile to erect an 8.5m high mobile phone mast at the junction of Hadlow Road and Three Elm Lane.

Kent and Sussex Courier

15:00 - 27 May 2005
The Owner of a small goat dairy farm in Nutley has spoken of his relief after plans to build a mobile phone mast metres from his kidding shed were withdrawn.

Brian Willcock, 74, of Humphreys Farm, said he would have been forced to get rid of his goats if plans to site the mast got approval.

But weeks after submitting plans for the site off the A22, telecommunications giants Vodafone and Orange have unexpectedly withdrawn their application.

Steve Arnold of Crown Castle UK said: "Orange and Vodafone are now not wanting to proceed with the project on that site. So we will be withdrawing the application."

A Vodaphone spokeswoman said: "We withdrew [the plan] because of a financial reprioritisation. It may not be a permanent withdrawl, it may be transferred to a future financial year."

Mr Willcock said: "I'm very relieved indeed, and most grateful to Crown Castle for withdrawing their application. I think it is a morally correct decision."

The former pilot - who looks after the farm with his wife Margaret - was convinced that emissions from the proposed structure would have proven harmful to his herd and said that research into the effects of electromagnetic waves on animals confirmed his fears.

His concerns followed an application to Wealden District Council earlier this month by telecommunication sites manager Crown Castle UK for a new lattice mast to be built at the Nutley Telephone Exchange.

The proposed structure would have stood at 17.5m with a 3.2m slimline rocket extension to support Vodafone and Orange antennae.

If given approval, it would have been only 8m from a kidding shed at the farm and 21m from a milking parlour.

Mr Willcock said he feared the effect that the mast would have had on his goats and pointed towards a recent study in which cattle exposed to electromagnetic fields experienced lower milk yields and increased occurrence of poor health and behavioural abnormalities.

The German experts behind the investigation found that when removed from a nearby transmitting antenna the cows recovered, only for symptoms to reoccur when they were returned to the original field.

Mr Willcock - a mobile phone user himself - has now called on network operators to position masts away from people and livestock.

He said: "We don't mind masts, but what we do not want is masts that are close to houses.

"All we are asking is for the masts to be 400m away."

Over the last eight years, repeated bids to station a mast on land next to his farm have been made. During one previous application, Mr Willcock collected 600 names on a petition objecting to the mast.

Lancashire Evening Telegraph

HUNDREDS of residents have lost their battle against a 20 metre-high mobile phone mast near their homes after the issue caused a rift between councillors.

Labour over-ruled opposition members of Blackburn with Darwen Council's planning committee to approve the mast at Welding Engineering Ltd, Spring Vale Road, Darwen.

A petition with 250 signatures from residents opposing the mast, to be used by O2, was presented to the committee.

In January, residents won a similar battle when O2 asked to build the mast at a site close by.

But last night Darwen Labour councillor Dave Smith told the committee: "This is the best site for the mast within this area.

"They have looked at other sites, but they aren't suitable.

"People complain about masts wherever they are put, but on the other hand they are using mobile phones like never before."

Residents argued that the proximity of the mast to their homes could pose a future health hazard, and it would be an eyesore.

Staff at the nearby Barnabas House nursery had also complained to the council on health grounds.

Resident Paul Singleton said: "This site is just over the road from the one refused. There have to be better sites locally."

Conservative Darwen councillor Fred Slater said: "There are much more suitable sites, like closer to Cranberry Moor where it would be higher.

"I'm not happy, and I feel for the residents."

The committee was told it would not be held liable under law for any subsequent health problems caused by mast, because government guidance currently stated there was no risk to people from being close to masts.

Tory councillor Alan Cottam said: "These new generations of masts don't cover such wide areas so they are going to keep popping up. The council should find sites suitable for masts, away from homes, and make all the companies share them."

The value of our Worcester home with a 3G mast on the pub roof next door 22 meters from our boundary wall and on a hill (we were at a lot higher level, so the mast contamination rams the house straight on) went down from £. 275000.- to £. 220000.-.

So ALL house owners and potential neighbors to masts. Brace yourselves for huge losses, and in many instances unsaleable properties.

Regards,

Agnes

http://www.mast-victims.org

PEOPLE power has stopped a mobile phone mast being built near a play area in Liversedge. Dozens of campaigners were celebrating after Kirklees overturned the plans last Thursday.

Every councillor on the Heavy Woollen planning sub-committee voted against the application for the T-Mobile mast – despite recommendations by planning officers to give it the go ahead.

27 May 2005


People power sees mast plan rejected

Spenborough today
(excerpt)

People power has stopped a mobile phone mast being built near a play area in Frost Hill.

Dozens of campaigners were celebrating after Kirklees overturned the plans last Thursday.

Every councillor on the Heavy Woollen planning sub-committee voted against the application – despite recommendations by planning officers to give it the go ahead.

The 15-metre T-Mobile mast would have been built on the BMK Industrial Estate – just metres away from greenery used by children as a play area. Plans showed that Millbridge Junior, Infant and Nursery School was just 70 metres away from the mast and homes on Bank Street only 26 metres away.

They also revealed the mast would have included two equipment cabins and been enclosed by a two-metre high fence.

But councillors agreed with protesters and said the mast would be too close to housing and the play area.

One, ward councillor David Sheard (Lab), said other sites further away from housing were more suitable.

He said: "The amenities the residents have at the moment are very poor. There is very little open space – and a massive area of industrial land. It is too close to the amenities."

Andrew Nield, who spoke for the protesters at the meeting, said dozens of residents had signed letters of objection to the siting of the 48ft mast.

He said the location was picked by T-Mobile despite being in the middle of a residential area.

After the meeting, at Dewsbury Town Hall last Thursday, he added: "It was an amazing meeting. The councillors were smashing – they got it spot on. It's the only green area we've got and that would have been taken away. It would have taken away our privacy also.

"It's not just that an area where the kids play was being taken away, there may be health risks too."

keir.dawson@ ywng.co.uk

27 May 2005