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Telco set for hostile reception over 3G base station
Australia Created: 13 Oct 2009
A dozen Telstra officials are poised for a heated reception when they front a meeting in Brisbane's inner west tonight to defend a controversial 3G mobile base station.

The telco plans to install the station on top of a unit complex in Bardon but the site's proximity to Rainworth State School, which is 170 metres away, has sparked public outrage.

Residents concerned with possible detrimental health effects from exposure to electromagnetic radiation (EME) have vowed to take the fight to Telstra, which is rolling out its 3G network around the country.

Telstra officials chose not to attend an emotion-charged public meeting hosted last Thursday called by Federal Liberal MP Michael Johnson and have instead scheduled their own "workshop-style" forum tonight, which will be fronted by the Brisbane general manager, Anton Jones.

Mr Jones said community fears about EME from telecommunications stations and towers were unfounded and not supported by scientific studies. He said the new structure would be no more harmful than its predecessor, which has existed closer to the school at a nearby retirement home for the past 15 years.

"The World Health Organisation has examined 25,000 studies over 30 years and they say there is no evidence," he said.

"In any case we operate thousands of times below the standards set by the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency.

"If there was a concern about these things the WHO would be saying so. It's been researched to death and there isn't conclusive evidence."

Residents are alarmed at what they describe as the "unknown" factor in existing research. "Studies say there is a need for ongoing research ...there is nothing definitive," said Kate Watson of the Rainworth State School P&C.

"That is why we want to make it at least 300 metres away from the school."

The WHO states that "current scientific evidence that exposure to RF fields, such as those emitted by mobile phones and their base stations, is unlikely to induce or promote cancers".

But a spokesman for ARPNSA said while there was no evidence of health effects from EME stations, the agency endorsed a precautionary stance on site locations.

Six other locations were shortlisted to house the 3G station but they have been kept secret by Telstra. It is expected those sites will be revealed tonight.

Allaying public fears over the health implications of the mobile station is not the only task confronting Telstra. Mr Jones admitted last night that the telco was looking into claims made by one of the Bardon unit owners that intimidating tactics were used to convince her to join with her complex's body corporate in agreeing to a three-year lease allowing the Telstra panels on the roof.

Alicia Whisson said representatives from Telstra's consultancy firm on site selection, United Group Limited, had pressured her with "months of threats" that under the Federal Telecommunications Act they could erect the station with or without her consent as long as it was deemed a "low impact" facility.

"When (the body corporate vote) was defeated, Telstra approached me personally because I was one of the dissenting voters and said 'If you don't agree to sign this lease there's legislation in place to allow us to come in and install it anyway and you'll see no compensation'," Ms Whisson said.

"I've been made to do this under duress."

She said she was concerned that the stigma of EME would have on the value of her home. "I've been advised by an estate agent that it will completely devalue the property and I'm going to struggle to sell or rent it," Ms Whisson said.

Mr Jones said Telstra was investigating her allegation of intimidation. "That claim has been made and we're looking into it," he said.

"That's certainly not our style. I believe she was made aware of the law of the land and the power that the legislation provides."

The public meeting is at Rainworth State School from 6pm.
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Source: Brisbane Times, CHRIS BARRETT, 13 Oct 2009

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