Pupils fight Six Bells mast plan (From South Wales Argus)

Pupils fight Six Bells mast plan

8:48am Friday 28th November 2008

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MORE than 200 people braved heavy rainfall in Six Bells yesterday to protest against a proposed mobile phone mast, which will be located 70 metres from a nearby primary school.

Pupils at Bryngwyn Primary School, their parents and local residents, marched from the school on Bryngwyn Road to the site of the proposed mast on Cwm Farm Road.

The protesters holding handmade placards urged mobile phone company Vodafone to reconsider their plans to build the mast so close to the school and complained about a lack of consultation from the company.

The chairman of the “Six Bells Against the Mast” action group, Nigel Bard, whose eight-year-old daughter Caitlin attends Bryngwyn Primary said: “It seems that the bad weather has not put anyone off coming here today, but that is because this issue is such a concern to so many people in the area.

“We are all concerned about the safety of our children and no-one knows for certain the risks these phone masts pose to our health.”

Catherine Edwards who has two children at the school, Calum, ten, and Alannah, six, said: “I don’t want it here at all as I believe it will be a health risk.

“There are plenty of other places the mast could be placed, so I don’t know why it has to be so close to the school.”

Blaenau Gwent council granted permission for the ten-metre lattice mobile phone mast on September 15.

The council’s planning committee said they were unable to refuse planning permission on grounds of health concerns due to government planning guidance.

Phone companies say there is no proven threat to health from phone masts.

Steve Smith, Head of Planning at Blaenau Gwent Council, said: “We have been hearing from parents and teachers at Bryngwyn Primary School about their concerns over the health of local children and the lack of consultation from Vodafone Ltd.

“We are in the process of talking to the company and have asked them to consider siting the mast further away from the school.”

The “Six Bells Against the Mast” Action Group will hold a public meeting at the school on December 11 at 6.30pm to discuss their future protest plans.

'Firm has followed rules'

A spokeswoman for Vodafone said the radio base station at Cwm Farm Road, is required to improve the 3G coverage to their customers in the area and will provide them with access to mobile broadband with speeds similar to those offered by fixed line broadband suppliers.

She said: “We recognise that the local community is concerned regarding the deployment of this radio base station. All of our base stations are designed, built and operated in accordance with stringent international guidelines laid down by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP).

“It is our target to completely install this base station by the end of the financial year.”

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J Elliott, Bristol says...
10:10am Fri 28 Nov 08

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. 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 outdated international guidelines were only designed for one thing. To protect the Industry and their profits! The ICNIRP international guidelines, trumpeted by government and phone operators as providing protection to the general public from phone mast electro magnetic radiation emissions, were introduced in 1992 in the technology's infancy. They were introduced not by scientists, but by technicians. They completely ignored researching the most damaging effects to the human body of these radiation emissions, i.e. measuring the biological, vibrational effects on the human body and damage to cells. They only researched the thermal (heating) effects of the emissions on dead meat! This absurdity is all that stands between us and the risk of life threatening or chronic disease. These (ICNIRP) guidelines as 'protection' are equivalent to a fireguard in front of a defective gas fire that is emitting carbon monoxide - it might stop you getting burned but you might not be alive to care!

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. 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 outdated international guidelines were only designed for one thing. To protect the Industry and their profits! The ICNIRP international guidelines, trumpeted by government and phone operators as providing protection to the general public from phone mast electro magnetic radiation emissions, were introduced in 1992 in the technology's infancy. They were introduced not by scientists, but by technicians. They completely ignored researching the most damaging effects to the human body of these radiation emissions, i.e. measuring the biological, vibrational effects on the human body and damage to cells. They only researched the thermal (heating) effects of the emissions on dead meat! This absurdity is all that stands between us and the risk of life threatening or chronic disease. These (ICNIRP) guidelines as 'protection' are equivalent to a fireguard in front of a defective gas fire that is emitting carbon monoxide - it might stop you getting burned but you might not be alive to care!

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Pupils fight Six Bells mast plan (From South Wales Argus)

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