Help & Advice re Planning Notice - 13.8 meter high mobile phone mast

fybar

Hi,

I'd really appreciate some advice and help please. I have been alerted by a neighbour that O2 and Vodaphone have put in a joint planning application to "erect a 13.8 meter high telegraph pole with six antennas and equipment cabin" close to my house. Apart from being an eyesore I'm concerned about health issues for my growing family.

I'm looking for advice/opinion on two fronts. 1. What are the real health issues associated with such a mast and 2. If I appeal to the council planners then what is my best approach.

I've done some initial research on health issues but opinion is split. On the one hand sections of the scientific community state that the radiation produced form the masts is too low to cause damage. However there are some very worrying examples of cancer clusters and other illnesses centred around masts eg Coleshill.

With reguard appealing to planners - there are a number of angles to play on including a)health, b)property values, c)near by school, d)technicality - the council have not officially told us and perhaps they should.

Any help would be gratefully appreciated.

Gloomendoom

Get them to put it on top of your house. You will be safely underneath any radiation emitted.

One of my relatives has a mast on his land. It is disguised as a fir tree and just blends into the other trees. Maybe that would make it less of an eyesore.

BTW Planners don't give a rat's @rse about property values.

Imp

In terms of safety, I take it you don't use a mobile phone, wireless broadband or any of the other plethora of emitters in modern usage.

Visually, mobile phone masts look similar to street lamps, just a bit different at the top.

Looking at that Coleshill report, it states there are a cluster of cancer cases near a mobile phone mast. Cancer is generally random. It is a statistical certainty that there will be random clusters of cancer cases. It mentions there are thousands of masts in the country, but it doesn't mention whether there is a cluster of cancer cases by each one - I can tell you the answer - there isn't. This report is most likely a report of a statistical fluke.

If you want to object to the planning application, go to your council's web site, read the local plan, and find any elements which the proposed mast deviates from the local plan. Object on these grounds. I don't think any of the angles you have suggested for objecting on have any merit (from a planning perspective from my limited knowledge).

iamcornholio

For that report to be valid, then surely there must be similar clusters and problems adjacent to every mobile mast in a residential area in the rest of the country?

None of your four 'angles' are relevant in planning terms. You need to compare the proposal with the local plan.

ormus

planners are not interested in property values. and no one has the right to a nice view.
ps,
i doubt you afford the same lawyers as vodafone etc...

27col

Stop being a nimby. You presumably are quite happy to use a phone and a computer but you don't want the apparatus near you. Or is that an oversimplification. Um, no, I don't think so. There are probably clusters all over the place, and there are masts all over the place. Ergo, there will be clusters near some masts. I doubt whether it is any more than an unfortunate coincidence.

fybar

27col - come on, throw us a bone - nimby - bit insulting don't you think? Each to his own though - I wouldn't dream of responding by calling you a gobsh!te or anything like that.

My question was two fold - firstly for advice on whether there is a credible health risk and secondly on how best to appeal. The advice from Imp Iamcornholio and ormus has been very helpful.

For what it's worth I do use a mobile but very sparingly and having teenage kids wireless broadband is essential - although I do turn it off at night (vague health fears - better safe than sorry - so maybe I am a healthy hypochondriac:-))

There is a recent case that ruled against the mobile phone company on health grounds but this was subsequently reversed with the judge putting the burden of proof on the public to prove a health risk. I'd guess there is little chance of this as if there are health risks we will probably only find out 20 years on when people start to get symptons from long term exposure.

My best approach, as suggested by Imp, is to consult the town development plan which I have. It states that such installations should be sited on industrial land so it seems I do have grounds for appeal. Cheers Imp!

aboard_epsilon

I would not like one near me..i don't use a mobile either ..have wireless only cause frequent outages with isps ..and them always blaming my phone extensions forced me to.

Had the meter man around the other week to read the meter ..asked him where he was going next ..he said to read a mobile phone masts meter ..

asked him how much they used ..he said on average 20 units a day...thats a lot of watts being turned into microwaves .scared me .

all the best.markj

gas4you

Can't see the problem with phone masts and health risks, when you have a microwave transmitter against your ear each time you use one.

As for planning permission, perhaps I'm a bit out of touch, but I thought they only needed it if the mast was 15m or more high.

googler

fybar wrote: »

With regard appealing to planners - there are a number of angles to play on including a)health, b)property values, c)near by school, d)technicality - the council have not officially told us and perhaps they should.

I'm no planning expert, but I do read a lot of decision notices on planning apps submitted to my council, and I don't think the planning committee would pay the slightest bit of notice to any of the objections you mention, especially b) and c).

As regards d), it's not up to the council to tell you, unless the council is making the application, and you are what's called a 'notifiable neighbour'. The applicant (the phone operator) should notify you IF they're required to submit a planning application for it, and IF you're a notifiable neighbour.

Homersimpson

A lot of schools actually have masts on one of the buildings (as do hospitals), its a great revenue raiser! I'm afraid close promximity to a school won't be considered as a valid reason to reject planning.

I'm pretty sure that planners arn't allowed to reject mobile phone masts on health grounds as no hard evidence has yet been produced that a risk exists.