Bedminster residents' phone mast fears
Bedminster residents are worried Bristol City Council will approve a 12.5-metre mobile phone mast outside their homes.
They have put together three petitions about 02's plan to build a mast on the corner of St John's Lane and Sylvia Avenue.
A further 19 people have objected and the council has received just one letter of support of the scheme.
Planners said they are "minded" to refuse the application – but they must do so before the weekend or the scheme will go through by default.
Under planning rules, mast applications automatically go ahead unless they are decided within 56 days.
Objectors fear 02 will put up a "monstrosity" and a local church, the Victoria Park Baptists, fears the project could interfere with its plans for affordable housing nearby.
Insurance worker Martin Hutchings, 36, who lives close to the site at the end of Redcatch Road, said: "We don't want something as high as this put up in a residential area.
"It's a possible health risk and it looks terrible. It will be a real monstrosity.
"The mast would be very near a popular beauty spot, Victoria Park.
"And I know for a fact that schemes of this kind have been turned down in other areas, including Clifton, in the past.
"Why should they dump this in our area of South Bristol?"
The Rev Brendan Bassett, minister of Victoria Park Baptist Church, has written to the council about the church's plans to redevelop its site.
His letter says: "A comparison of the two plans (i.e.. the mast and the church's scheme) indicates the mast would likely be just a few feet from a potential bedroom and, if granted planning permission, would dictate a compromise to our plans."
But Angela Johnson, of O2, told the Bristol Evening Post: "The mast needs to be 12.5 metres high because of surrounding trees and buildings.
"If it goes ahead, it will be a mock telegraph pole, in keeping with an Orange mast just down the road.
"There is no risk to health. The World Health Organisation has said there is no evidence of any risk because the masts are so low-powered.
"The mast has to be at the location applied for. It needs to be in a very specific area to fit in with our existing network.
"It can't be too close to any of our other masts because otherwise it could cause interference."
The Bedminster protestors' hopes were raised last night, as Bristol City Council said: "The council is minded to refuse the application."
4 Comments
by J Elliott, Bristol
Thursday, October 02 2008, 10:48AM
“I wont complain as I don't have a mobile. Why would i want a brain tumour. Children wont complain either. As the national press reported last week, the latest research from Sweden reported that children are 5 times more likely to get cancer if they use a mobile phone”
by Steven, North Bristol
Wednesday, October 01 2008, 12:11PM
“And if the masts are not put up, I wonder who'll be the first to complain when they've got no coverage for their mobiles?”
by spacemonster, alpha-centauri-bemmy
Wednesday, October 01 2008, 10:50AM
“how awful - I hope this wont make any of my 13 eyestalks go pink.”
by J Elliott, Bristol
Wednesday, October 01 2008, 7:33AM
“It is disgraceful of Angela Johnson of O2 to allege that there is no health risk from phone masts. On the contrary 80% of WHO research proves that this technology is not safe. Over 2000 independent studies, linking phone mast electro magnetic radiation with serious ill health including cancer, confirm that phone masts should not be sited within 350 metres of schools or housing. Numerous studies have proved that melatonin, the cancer fighting hormone, is suppressed by this pulsing radiation. That's why the cancer clusters continue to increase in the vicinity of phone masts. Phone operators dismiss such research, alleging that their own studies suggest no health risk. However last year the national press revealed that a phone operator covered up the damaging results of their own research. The Ecolog Institute, a research organisation which examines the health effects of mobile phones, was commissioned to investigate the possible health risks of mobile phone masts. The 2003 Ecolog report confirmed:
'Given the results of the present epidemiological studies, it can be concluded that electromagnetic fields with frequencies in the mobile telecommunications range do play a role in the development of cancer. This is particularly notable for tumours of the central nervous system.'
The idea that unelected bodies (the mobile phone companies) have a right to expose people to the very real harm caused by phone mast electro magnetic radiation, amounts to enrolling the population in a giant biological experiment without their consent. It is shameful that children, the most vulnerable of all, are included in this experiment and that our future health is disregarded so cynically in the pursuit of profit.”