Mobile Phone Masts
Posted By: Ian R Elliott on 22-Dec-2008
The Mobile Phone Mast in Molehill Road, Chestfield, Whitstable, Kent. Thanks for the article. I am enclosing copies of the four speeches made by Residents at the Site Meeting yesterday. The speeches being made by me, . Mrs Sophie Murray (Tel 01227 793029) , John Page (Tel 01227 793920) and David Prisley (01227 793926). All four are available for further comments should you wish to make contact. Despite the massive local opposition from The Community in Chestfield, Canterbury City Council passed judgment today – the Planning Application was approved in The Guildhall following the site visit. The local campaign committee, of which I am proud to be a member, left site with the feeling that – where mobile phone masts are concerned – the days of democracy, logical and rational debate – in the presence of common sense – are all dead. We all feel very deeply let down by the Council, who seem to demonstrate an invincible & righteous power that can and will not be deterred by mere Members of the Public. Reading today’s Article on the website, in > www.yourcanterbury.co.uk < that the Council spokesman twice quotes that thorough consultation had been carried out I feel like questioning my own sanity, as I always believed that consultation meant asking peoples’ opinions and taking these into account, rather than simply advising people what is happening. I recently attended a meeting in this Guildhall and listened to debates surrounding planning applications for 4 mobile phone masts. A spokesman for the Council – Mr Bob Britnell, Senior Planning Officer - gave an illustration of the health dangers posed by mobile phone masts by describing a hypothetical situation where an engineer working on a phone mast might get “frazzled” by passing in front of one of the transmission pods, akin to being in front of a microwave oven with the door open. This was a clear acknowledgement of the potential health dangers that we all know exist. I went home, sad, shocked, disappointed and thoroughly demoralised at what I had witnessed.” I have the same feeling today as the sentiments expressed in my previous paragraph and believe that this view is now shared by the majority of people in the Chestfield Community. I wonder how Mr Britnell sleeps nights, because where I in his shoes, I would find it extremely difficult to do so. Of the ten or so masts that Vodafone has installed locally we are aware that two are 1.5 miles apart and that this distance is clearly acceptable in terms of coverage. Our various Objections included a request that the mast location was simply moved a few hundred yards further along Molehill Road away from residential development. But even this moderate request was ignored. In expressing the above sentiment I do readily acknowledge that Governmental Guidelines preclude Councils from taking health concerns into consideration when they sit in judgment. Despite this acknowledgement I still find it appropriate to repeat what I wrote earlier, namely - We all feel very deeply let down by the Canterbury City Council, who seem to demonstrate an invincible & righteous power that can and will not be deterred by mere Members of the Public. Yours, in despondency and sadness Ian R Elliott