 |
| Spain |
Created: 5 May 2009 |
In yet another decision concerning antennae, on 5 March the court at Angers ordered Orange to cancel the installation of a mobile phone mast on the grounds of 'health risks for local residents'. On 4 February, the Versailles court of appeal ordered Bouygues Telecom to remove a mast in order to mitigate the psychological damage resulting from stress suffered by residents, citing 'exposure to a health risk representing unacceptable disturbance to neighbours'. This decision confirmed the judgement of the Nanterre court on 18 September 2008. On 16 February, a court in Carpentras also ordered SFR to remove phone masts because of the neighbourhood nuisance caused by their installation. But the Angers judges' motivation is different in that the principle of precaution is directly invoked: 'the principle of precaution obliges us to forbid the project to install phone masts on the bell tower of the church of Notre-Dame-d'Alençon.
This constitutes an effective and proportionate measure aimed at preventing a range of serious and irreversible damaging effects on the environment at an economically acceptable cost.' These decisions raise the issue of the long-term future of phone masts. Mobile phone operators are impatiently waiting for the decision of the Appeal Court. The round table on phone masts, to be held on 23 April, should also help to clarify the effects of these decisions. |
|
|
|
Click here to view the source article.
|
|
|