World-News

AS MOBILE phone companies search for new sites for their third generation phone masts, communities are being forced to fight battles to keep them at bay.

People living in the Parsonage Manorway area of Belvedere are gearing themselves up for a third battle to stop a mast going up near the Great Harry pub.

Orange is the latest company to try its luck in the area. continued...

It has applied to Bexley Council for permission to put a mast outside the pub on the corner of Eastry Road.

Last year, 500 residents and pub licensee Melanie Jones fought off attempts by phone company T-Mobile to site a mast next to the Great Harry.

When approaches to Mrs Jones to put the mast on the pub roof failed, the company applied to erect one on the pavement outside.

When Bexley Council turned down the plan, the company appealed.

However, residents renewed their efforts and the appeal was also turned down.

Within weeks of the appeal result, rival company Orange began canvassing the area for a mast just one road junction down from T-Mobile's proposed site.

Now residents are having to mobilise themselves again.

Their MP, John Austin, who is backing them all the way, said: "I have already outlined to Orange I can see no difference in this proposal from the one which was previously refused."

Residents have until October 30 to write to Bexley Council's planning department at Wyncham House, Longlands Road, Sidcup, to object to Orange's plans.

Orange is also behind plans to site a mobile phone base station in Woolwich Road, Belvedere.

This is near the site of Bexley's new state-of-the-art splash park.

The company says the 49ft high mast, with three equipment cabinets, is needed to maintain its network coverage in the face of the shutdown this year, of the controversial mast at Bedonwell Primary School, Bedonwell Road, Belvedere.

Orange is currently canvassing opinion in the area, before lodging a planning application.

However, ward councillor David Leaf says opposition to the mast is already growing into a campaign to stop it.

© Copyright 2001-2006 Newsquest Media Group

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Oct 25 2006

By Andrew Heath

PROTESTERS claim they are "under siege" from mobile phone companies desperate to build a mast near their Warwickshire homes.

More than 30 men, women and children joined a demonstration against O2's plans to build a 15 metre pole next to Old Milverton Road, between Leamington and Warwick.

They are angry the company has submitted an application to build a mast in the area just seven months after councillors on Warwick District Council's planning committee turned a previous application down for an O2 mast 50 yards away.

So far, the group has fended off three applications from O2 and other applications from Orange and Vodafone.

And despite hundreds of signatures on a petition against the latest application, they are worried councillors may finally give O2 the green light.

Mum-of-two Laura Fitzpatrick, aged 33, of Old Milverton, Leamington attended the protest with her two-year-old son Oscar and 14-month-old daughter Eva.

She said: "It is like being under siege.

"Nobody wants it and there is a better site nearby. If they put in an application for a pole at a site by electricity pylons nearby, no-one would mind.

"We are getting worried that if they just keep going eventually people will give up."

In March, councillors turned down the application on the grounds of road safety and Terry Molloy, of St Albans Close, Milverton, believes the same concerns affect the latest proposal.

He said: "It would be an accident waiting to happen. It would be standing on a concrete base on the side of a busy country road.

"It is basically the same proposal as last time just 50 yards away."

A spokeswoman for O2 said the company wanted to build a mast in the area because the existing network was reaching capacity.

She said: "We only build when it is absolutely necessary.

"We also have a commitment to the government to provide nationwide 3G coverage for the whole of the country.

"At the moment people may get a good signal, but there will be peak times when people won't be able to get a signal at all."

© owned by or licensed to Midland Newspapers Limited 2006

Source: http://tinyurl.com/yagm87

25 October 2006

A WARD councillor has vowed to fight plans to install a phone mast before an application reaches the council.

Belvedere councillor David Leaf was informed by Orange earlier this month that the company was intending to put up a 15-ft phone mast in Woolwich Road, Belvedere, to "maintain the levels of coverage provided by the existing site at Bedonwell School".

But the Conservative councillor said putting the mast close to the Splash Park and the children's playground in Woolwich Road would be a wrong move.

He said: "I'm not waiting for a formal application to be submitted to the council. I want to make residents aware of the plans now and will be gathering their views.

"Phone masts could be a danger to children's health. It's better to take precautions and place them in areas away from residential areas."

Mr Leaf is angry that Orange has only sent details to ward councillors and not informed those living near the proposed site of its plans.

He said: "I'm shocked that the company is keeping it from residents. It's going to be outside their homes and businesses so they have a right to know about plans as soon as possible."

Orange says it is looking for a new site for a base station in the area because the lease on a mast at Bedonwell School in Bedonwell Road will not be renewed when it expires later this year.

In September Orange shelved plans to erect a mast just 100 yards from the school and have since been looking for a new site.

The company says World Health Organisation studies show that there is no adverse link between mobile phone technology and public health.

Omega this is not true. See under:
http://omega.twoday.net/topics/Wissenschaft+zu+Mobilfunk/
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Cancer+Cluster
http://www.buergerwelle.de/body_science.html

Copyright © 2006 Archant Regional. All rights reserved.

Source: http://tinyurl.com/yhvszy

devon.editorial@archant.co.uk

25 October 2006

SIR - Your article on October 11 concerning mobile phone masts was a timely wake-up call to all communities in the South West as it appears there are now mobile phone company representatives working with a female co-ordinator, appointed by the Church of England to promote the use of church towers as vantage points for mobile phone masts.

It would appear that mobile phone companies, having paid £22.8 billion in licence fees to the present Government are anxious to erect the new mobile phone masts because they are under pressure to claw back their investments.

However, this does not entitle them to ride roughshod over the public and use church towers as a cheap and convenient way of erecting their masts in the middle of communities.

The present Government authorised an investigation into the safety of mobile phone masts called the Stewart Report in May, 2000 to answer the question: "Are the masts a danger to health?"

The committee's answer was : "'probably not." This was taken by the Government and the mobile phone companies as a No.

Yet the small print of the report acknowledged that it is impossible to assess the long-term health consequences of mobile phone technology after just a few years of experience. Now, instances of health problems and cancer clusters near mobile phone masts are multiplying daily.

My concern is that this Government has now taken away the right of district councils to reject mobile phone masts on the grounds of health, fearing perhaps for the financial health no doubt of their benefactors, the mobile phone companies.

May I also quote from the Church of England's own article concerning mobile phone masts: "The ethos behind Christian Ecology Link's approach is that of care for one's neighbour and the precautionary principle."

Perhaps with this in mind, St Mary's in Bideford should follow the example of the Roman Catholic Church which has now banned and removed phone masts from all its churches in Italy on the grounds of health with regard to electromagnetic pollution and because they are alien to the sanctity of the church.

I should think that just about covers St Mary's decision to place the more powerful G3 mast 50 metres from and on a level with all the house windows in Buttgarden Street.

Readers wishing to find details of illnesses or effects caused by masts should ring (01237) 423971 or even better contact http://www.mastsanity.org

Tim Langdon, Bideford.

Copyright © 2006 Archant Regional. All rights reserved.

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PLANS to build a 100 foot high mobile phone mast on picturesque Brandon Hill, Graignanamangh has stunned the local community.

Local councillor Ann Phelan said the decision by 02 to submit a planning application for the structure was a disgrace and has called on the telecommunications company to withdraw the application immediately as a gesture of goodwill to the people of the area.

"We are talking about something which is dear to the hearts of all the people of 'Graig," she said.

"This is an area of high amenity and is part of the South Leinster Way used by hikers all year round," she added.

"Brandon Hill has religious, social and archaeological value and O2's plans will impinge on it. No one can understand why they would try something like this when there are other sites available and other masts already constructed," she claimed.

Referring to the fact that the planning application refers to the townland of Ballinakill and not Brandon Hill, Cllr Phelan said: "They can call it what they like it's still Brandon Hill to us."

She said the mast and base station were equidistant from three homes on Brandon Hill and that this also raised health issues.

Meeting

A meeting in Mick Doyle's pub in the town last week heard criticism of 02 and Coillte who own the land on which the company plan to build the structure.

"This is a sensitive area and Brandon Hill has protected views. If they allow this monstrosity to go up it will dominate as you look back through the valley," Cllr Phelan said.

Coillte admitted that it had given written permission to 02 to make the planning application. A lease is generally agreed between Coillte and the company.

O2 Ireland said the mast is necessary to improve the quality of mobile phone coverage in the area.

Statement

In a statement to the Kilkenny People it said: "We recognise that there is some public concern about the erection of the infrastructure and are committed to addressing this concern in an open and transparent way."

The company claimed to have had conversations with some local residents, including the parish priest, about the application and remained open to meeting with any local group to discuss this matter further.

It added that at all times O2 endeavours to minimise the environmental impact and visibility of its mobile infrastructures.

25 October 2006

All rights reserved © 2006 Johnston Press Digital Publishing.

http://www.kilkennypeople.ie/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=2594&ArticleID=1840802

MORE than 170 people have signed a petition against a mobile phone base station in the grounds of an Old Town pub.

Hutchinson 3G launched a pre-application consultation to hear the views of residents living near the Tally Ho in Church Street.

It wants to put a base station there, similar to the one at the Eastbourne Garden Centre, but a Liberal Democrat-led petition shows strong opposition.

Stephen Lloyd, Lib Dem Parliamentary challenger, said, "I was contacted by a local resident who showed me the letter that had come from a company called Babcock Networks Ltd who are acting as Agents for Hutchison 3G, a mobile phone company.

"The letter stated that a 'pre-application consultation' was taking place to determine the public's views of a mobile mast being sited at the Tally Ho. The resident asked for my help.

"With other Lib Dem campaigners and concerned residents we spoke to more than 170 people who live in and around the possible site to ask for their views.

"The response was overwhelmingly against the idea of a mobile base station being situated in a residential area."

Local campaigner Carolyn Heaps, who was one of those asking people for their views, said, "Every person I spoke to bar one was against the idea of a mobile mast being planted on top of the Tally Ho.

"Their views were very clear — an emphatic no."

Mr Lloyd added, "Though the deadline set by the company for responses to their pre-application consultation was incredibly tight, we managed to collect more than 173 signatures against the proposal.

"These were sent in — within the deadline — and I have just received a response from the agents.

"They remain non-committal about next steps but hopefully our prompt and sizeable response will give them pause for thought."

24 October 2006

All rights reserved © 2006 Johnston Press Digital Publishing.

http://www.eastbournetoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=488&ArticleID=1834603

PETER WALSH

21 October 2006 10:53

A granddad has hit out at plans for a mobile phone mast being installed in woods near to a venue used by youth groups and sports teams.

Telecommunications giant 3, formerly Hutchison 3G, has applied to Broadland District Council for prior approval for a 22.5-metre mast on land near to the Fitzmaurice Pavilion, off Pound Lane, Thorpe.

Thorpe St Andrew Parish Council has not lodged any objections to the plans, but families - unhappy that children and sporting teams will be playing in the shadow of the mast, which also includes three antennae, dish antennae, and radio equipment housing - are opposed to it.

Bob Carman, 70, a retired prison officer who lives with his wife Pamela in nearby Eastern Crescent, Thorpe St Andrew, said he would be objecting to the plans.

“It's a 22.5metre mast and it's going to be a very ugly site and will spoil the immediate surrounding environment,” he said.

“There's an awful lot of houses in the area and it will possibly devalue properties.”

Mr Carman, who has four children and 10 grandchildren, said the site was also next to a leisure area used by dog walkers as well as youngsters.

“The potential health risks haven't been proved or disproved but is the council willing to gamble with the future of people living in Thorpe St Andrew? Thorpe St Andrew High School is only a couple of hundred metres away and they are now building the new school on Dussindale Drive, and there's also a school up Hillside.”

Mr Carman said he would be writing to the council to let them know his views and would be supporting neighbours in a campaign against it.

The Evening News has fought against the installation of mobile phone masts near homes and schools until it is proved they are safe through our Put Masts on Hold campaign. Dr Ian Gibson, Norwich North MP, a supporter of the campaign, urged people to object to plans for the mast.

“I think there's no guarantee that young people will not be subjected to radiation from these masts. There's no question they're safe because they're not,” he said.

William Comery, corporate affairs manager for South East Ericsson the company installing the mast on behalf of 3, said nine locations were looked at but the proposed site was chosen because it was thought it would “cause the least disturbance to the environment and community” and would be screened by trees.

Are you battling a mobile phone mast application where you live? Telephone Evening News reporter
Peter Walsh on 01603 772439 or
e-mail peter.walsh(at)archant.co.uk

Copyright © 2006 Archant Regional. All rights reserved.

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19 October 2006

RESIDENTS are mounting a massive campaign against plans to put up a mobile phone mast near to two schools and a care home.

Protesters living in and around Scotts Lane, Shortlands are joining forces against Orange over its application for a telecommunications pole and cabinet at a site in the road.

The mast would be near Jasondean nursing home and Clare House Primary school, both in Oakwood Avenue, as well as Highfield Junior School, in South Hill Road.

Campaigner Peter Amato said: "We are trying to get as many people as possible to send in objection letters. These applications are becoming quite an epidemic.

"This mast will adversely affect the character and appearance of the area and have a huge impact on the lives of local residents. It will be there 24 hours a day, seven days a week, there will be no escaping it.

"It's a very green area and no matter what colour they paint the mast it's going to look really out of place."

The residents are hoping the application will be referred to a planning committee for further consideration.

Mr Amato added: "I find it hard to imagine having to live with the constant worry and fear it is going to cause, and its unsightliness will be a permanent reminder." He also questioned whether phone operators consider sharing masts before building new ones.

Residents have until Monday, October 23 to submit their views on the application.

A spokesman for Orange said: "Mobile phone technology is extremely low powered and therefore has to be located close to the demand - where people live, work and use their mobile phones. It is, therefore, not unusual or exceptional for base stations to be located in populated areas since that is where you will find the highest level of demand.

"The proposed site in Scotts Lane is a mock telegraph pole. The design has been specifically chosen as it will greatly minimise the visual impact by complimenting the existing street scene.

"In terms of health, residents can be assured that Orange fully complies with the robust public exposure guidelines in place."

Omega read "Base Stations, operating within strict national and international Guidelines, do not present a Health Risk?" under: http://omega.twoday.net/stories/771911/

A recent World Health Organisation ruling found there was no convincing evidence that 'weak' signals from base stations cause health problems.

Omega this is not true. See under:
http://omega.twoday.net/topics/Wissenschaft+zu+Mobilfunk/
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Cancer+Cluster
http://www.buergerwelle.de/body_science.html

margaret.davis@archant.co.uk

For more information on the campaign visit: http://www.saynotoorange.com

Copyright © 2006 Archant Regional. All rights reserved.

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