World-News

By Kevin Burchall

Basil Jones, centre, with Karen Kelly and her son Morgan in front of a mobile phone mast Picture Ref: 201762

A WORLD authority on the health implications of mobile phone masts will be sharing his expertise with Swindon parents next week.

Roger Coghill will be giving a talk on the dangers of phone masts at the Pilgrim Centre in Regent Circus next Friday after being invited to the town by the Swindon-based charity Stop Harming Our Children (SHOC).

Mr Coghill, who runs an independent science laboratory in Pontypool, believes the health hazards of electromagnetic radiation from mobile phones, power lines and other sources are seriously understated.

And Basil Jones, chairman of SHOC's trustees, is hoping Mr Coghill's knowledge of the dangers of electromagnetic fields will bring the phone mast issue to the fore in Swindon. continued...

"Our function (at SHOC) is to bring to the public's attention important issues about threats to our children," Mr Jones said.

"As mobile phone masts is a big issue locally, with more than 400 masts alone in Swindon, we thought this would be a good starting point to see what kind of reaction we get from the public.

"So we found that one of the top experts in the field of electromagnetic fields was Roger Coghill and luckily he agreed to come along.

"He has pointed towards the need to be extremely cautious about mobile phone masts and it will be very interesting for us to hear what he has to say."

SHOC was founded last September by a group of worried parents and grandparents who wanted to raise awareness of child nutrition and vaccination advice.

Eventually, the aim is to visit local schools to give out information and advice with expert guest speakers.

The group's main purpose is to bring back knowledge that has often been lost in today's media, to the attention of parents.

Karen Kelly, of Manor Cres-cent, Moredon, has spent more than a year protesting against an O2 phone mast, which was put up close to her home.

The mum-of-two has campaigned tirelessly for the mast to be moved and has applauded SHOC's efforts in highlighting the potential dangers of mobile phone masts.

The mast has not been moved yet but O2 has agreed in principle. "I think a lot of these masts go up because people sit back and think there isn't a lot they can do about it," she said.

"But I think anything that draws people's attentions to the dangers has got to be a good thing.

"There does seem to be a general view that if you want mobile phones you have to accept the masts and I agree with that, but I do think these masts must be put up away from residential areas."

Mr Coghill's talk starts at 7.30pm, but the Pilgrim Centre will be open for tea and coffee at 7pm. All are welcome to attend.

For more information, log onto http://www.shocswindon.org

© Copyright 2001-2006 Newsquest Media Group

http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/swindonnewsheadlines/display.var.763827.0.expert_to_give_views_on_masts.php

SCHOOL governors and neighbours are up in arms about a proposed mobile phone mast near their school and homes in Horncastle. During the past two weeks posters have appeared near Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School informing people of a proposed T-Mobile telephone mast.

The sign informed people the phone company is considering installing a 15m radio base station at Reindeer Close Industrial Estate to provide coverage to the Horncastle area.

School governors have, through headteacher Tim Peacock, asked parents to write to the company with their objections to the mast.

A letter to all parents stated: "It has been bought to out attention that plans exist to locate a telecommunications mast on the Reindeer Close site.

"We feel this is entirely inappropriate. Children should not be exposed to unnecessary risks."

An East Lindsey District Council spokesman explained: "The planning department has been approached to give pre-application advice relating to a proposed mobile phone mast to serve Horncastle.

"One of the sites proposed was on the Reindeer Close Industrial Estate."

# At the time of going to press a representative from T-Mobile was unavailable for comment.

All rights reserved © 2006 Johnston Press Digital Publishing.

http://www.horncastletoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=825&ArticleID=1508682

http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2006/May/12/local/stories/01local.htm

May 12, 2006

Santa Cruz K-5 closes citing cell tower radiation

By ROGER SIDEMAN
SENTINEL STAFF WRITER

SANTA CRUZ — A new Westside elementary school is closing its doors following plans by First Congregational Church to install three cell-phone transmitters next door atop its 80-foot steeple.

Una Familia, the private school at 900 High St. that serves 25 kindergarten through fifth-grade students at 900 High St., has a stated mission of incorporating neuroscience into its curriculum. It's an emphasis that school founder Joan Harrington, who rents the space from the church, says is inherently incompatible with a business deal she says would bathe the neighborhood in electromagnetic radiation.

"This has ruined my business because the families that come to me were coming to be part of this special program," said Harrington, who taught at Bonny Doon School for 20 years before opening Una Familia on the old Pacific Collegiate site in January. "It makes absolutely no sense for me to go forward with my research."

Part of the school's so-called "brain-based" educational model looks at how ambient radiation impairs student performance and intensifies student distractibility.

Cell phone companies have long maintained that there isn't any clear evidence that cellular towers pose any health risks. In the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Congress banned local governments from blocking towers on safety grounds.

First Congregational Church's senior minister Dave Grishaw-Jones said he's heartbroken by the situation with the elementary school.

"We believe Jean's mission at the school fit our values as a progressive church," Grishaw-Jones said. "If our leadership felt the science was clear, we'd back off in a flash. Science is used in different ways, and we thought it's best not to be intimated."

Built in the late 1950s, the church's steeple is now is disrepair and needs to be stabilized, Grishaw-Jones said. A financial deal initiated by cell provider Sprint will allow the church to keep the steeple, he said.

Raising funds to fix the steeple is one thing, local activists contend, but doing it by building a cell transmitter to benefit a private enterprise is another.

Though the new transmitters are intended to smooth out patchy phone service in the area — a frequent complaint of UC Santa Cruz staff and students nearby — Harrington and other opponents view them as nothing less than an affront to human health and the democratic process.

"It's a usurpation of our rights to choose the hazards we want or don't want to be exposed to," said Deborah Salisbury of the Alliance for Wireless Hazard Protection based in Live Oak.

Parent Annemarie Bertschi had two children enrolled in art classes at Una Familia.

"I've looked at some of the data around cell towers and a 1,000 foot buffer would be more reasonable; this is way too close," she said.

But apparently there's already a smaller cell tower much closer to the school, hidden inside a fake chimney on the church roof; it's been there since 1999. Harrington said she learned about it just five weeks ago, adding that the existing tower was also a factor in her decision to close the school.

The federal ban that prevents local governments from using health concerns as a factor in regulating cellular towers hasn't stopped some area governments. Some have called for moratoriums on tower building, and places like Gilroy have passed local laws to restrict the size, shape and location of future cell sites.

No moratorium exists in Santa Cruz, but the proposal by First Congressional Church still requires the City Council's approval, Grishaw-Jones said.

Last month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it will review wireless phone safety following a recently published study that raised concerns about a heightened risk of brain cancer. The agency continues to monitor studies for possible health problems stemming from long-term exposure to radio frequency energy.

Earlier this year in Monterey, the city approved plans to install three cell phone towers disguised inside three specially constructed fiberglass crosses to be mounted atop St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church. Elsewhere in the region, companies have begun disguising cell towers inside faux pine trees, water towers and billboards.

Contact Roger Sidemanat rsideman@santacruzsentinel.com.

Copyright © Santa Cruz Sentinel. All rights reserved.


Source: Bonnie Hicman

http://www.emfacts.com/weblog/index.php?p=466

Irish Independent - Dublin, Ireland

MOBILE phone mast opponents have laid the blame for health problems they claim are associated with the masts squarely on the Government's shoulders...

http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=9&si=1614148&issue_id=14041>

Reach Out and Track Someone
http://www.alternet.org/story/36151


From Information Clearing House

May 12 2006

Alison Anderson

FEARS for the health of children living close to mobile phone masts are not valid reasons for refusing planning permission – providing the mast complies with government guidelines.

This was the harsh message given to the development control committee of Perth and Kinross Council and to objectors of a proposed mast on the roof of the Drummond Arms Hotel in the centre of Crieff.

Applicant Hutchison 3G UK Ltd are seeking planning consent to replace the existing flagpole with a thicker flagpole which incorporates three telecommunications antennae on the roof of the B-listed building in James Square.

Colin Campbell, representing the applicants, told the committee that the visual impact of the new pole would be minimal, while on health issues, the proposals were compliant with existing guidelines.

He also explained that the mast was needed to fill a gap in mobile phone coverage in the Crieff area.

When quizzed about why his company could not mast share with other mobile phone networks, Mr Campbell said Hutchison 3G were not able to enter into agreement on mast sharing.

Crieff councillor Helen Macdonald initially motioned for the application to be rejected, claiming the hotel roof “could not be in a worse location to have a mast.”

But after being given legal advice from council officers, she changed her motion to one of deferral for the applicant to present evidence that all efforts had been made to find an alternative site and establish operational need.

The application had attracted a raft of objections, including local woman Caroline Boxer, who told the committee that her four-year-old daughter’s bedroom was just 30-50 metres from the proposed mast.

She told the committee of her and other nearby residents’ concerns about the unproven risks to health from masts, and pointed out that in the USA mast sites have to be 500m from vulnerable people.

Omega the risks to health from masts are not unproven. 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

“The council has a duty to look after residents and it would be failing in this duty if the mast was approved,” Ms Boxer told the committee.

aanderson@s-un.co.uk

© owned by or licensed to Trinity Mirror Plc 2006

http://tinyurl.com/hr2zq

Friday, May 12, 2006

BALLYGUNNER GAA Club has been urged to take down a mobile phone mast sited beside St Mary’s National School.

Senator Brendan Kenneally of Fianna Fail, said the mast was erected without any public consultation or planning permission and its radiation emissions could threaten the health of nearby schoolchildren.

“It is very disappointing that Ballygunner GAA Club allowed this mast to be erected without any consultation with local residents or the local school,” said the Senator. “There is plenty of cause for concern about radiation emissions from mobile phone masts and until these fears are allayed by hard scientific evidence, we should not site them close to schools or health centres.”

Senator Kenneally, who is a member of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, pointed to a recent wide-ranging report the committee undertook on mobile phone safety. “The Joint Committee investigated health fears prompted by mobile phone use. It found that there is a cloak of secrecy surrounding radiation levels emitted by the country’s 4,500 masts. The report suggested that planning guidelines be amended to stop the erection of masts near schools and playgrounds. It also recommended that the results of all emission testing on masts be published.

“The report, entitled ‘Report On Non-ionisation From Mobile Phone Handsets And Masts’, put forwards some very useful guidelines on the safe use of mobile phone technology. It is crucial that we err on the side of caution when dealing with mobile phone masts.

“I would urge Ballygunner GAA Club to immediately take down the mobile phone mast until we establish for sure that its emissions pose no threat to human health, particularly that of children,” added the Senator.

Meanwhile, as we went to press last night (Tuesday), a public meeting was taking place in the Scout Hall in Ballygunner amid continuing concerns about the mast.

© Waterford News & Star, 2006.

http://www.waterford-news.ie/news/story.asp?j=21770