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UK: Members of Parliament: Who will work seriously to get the Telecommunications Mast Siting under Control:
United Kingdom Created: 20 Jul 2005
Hereford MP Bill Wiggin: Concerns for Insensitive Mast Locations Without Consultation Of The Local Communities!
MOBILE MAST INVASION:

130,000 more mobile masts on the horizon, warns Bill Wiggin
Another Labour Government is ignoring voice of local people say Conservatives Bill Wiggin, MP for Leominster, has warned this month that local communities face another 130,000 more mobile phone masts – with local people having little say on where they go. Recent comments from industry figures have indicated that new ‘3G’ technology will require four times as many masts than at present. This suggests an additional 209 masts on average in every single Parliamentary constituency.

Bill Wiggin explained, “Throughout the election campaign, I heard first hand how the threat of poorly-located masts is causing alarm for many people. There is a presumption in favour of development inherent in the current planning system, which overrides local, environmental and safety concerns. Current planning rules cannot cope with the imposition of 130,000 more masts – with the possibility of up to 200 more near homes and schools across Leominster.”

The Government announced a review of planning regulations on masts just before the election.
Conservatives in Parliament are lobbying for a five point action plan:

1). All mobile phone mast developments would require full planning permission, so that local councillors are clearly accountable and answerable for where masts are located.
2). There would be a single process for deciding all masts, including those on Network Rail or church property, Tetra masts, as well as small antennas being covertly installed in street furniture or signs.
3). Councils would be allowed to take health concerns into account such as near homes, hospitals and schools.
Current national planning guidance prohibits this.
4). Mast operators would be required to demonstrate that any development does not result in unacceptable damage to visual amenity or harm environmentally sensitive features.
5). Councils would be asked to draw up their own supplementary planning guidance to ensure consistency and clarity for operators and residents, and ensure a plan-led approach to future development.

Bill Wiggin added, “We all want to be able to use a mobile phone, but this doesn’t mean masts should be constructed without any regard for the well-being of local people.
It is time for the Mr Blair to start listening and stop ignoring the views of local communities.
As Member of Parliament for Leominster, I will be calling on Mr Blair’s Government to address the feelings of powerlessness and frustration experienced by those living under the threat of badly sited masts.”
WIGGIN, Bill [WIGGINB@parliament.uk]
Click here to view the source article.
Source: Source. Newsletter: WIGGIN, Bill [WIGGINB@parliament.uk]

Uri Geller - I will help mast objectors
United Kingdom Created: 18 Jul 2005
WORLD famous psychic Uri Geller has stepped in to support campaigners who are trying to stop a mobile phone mast from being built near three Harrogate schools. Speaking exclusively to the Harrogate Advertiser, the celebrity said he believed everything possible should be done to stop masts being built near homes and schools and he pledged his personal support to Campus members who are fighting plans to build a 3G mast on Claro Road. "The practice of putting mobile phone masts near schools should be outlawed and I am appalled that the Government is giving permission for such masts to go up in areas like this," he said. "My knowledge of the danger of masts leads me to believe that anyone living near them is endangering their lives. I believe they can cause many ailments, especially in children whose skulls are so much thinner than those of adults, and there is no doubt in my mind that these masts radiate low frequency waves which sooner or later will damage people's health.
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Source: Published in Harrogate Advertiser, 20 May 2005.

On the Precautionary Approach and the Stewart & NRPB Reports
United Kingdom Created: 18 Jul 2005
Intro:
As we all know, the Stewart Report, April 2000, advocated 'a precautionary approach'. Since then both the Government and the industry, with the wholehearted backing of the NRPB, have claimed that this need for a 'precautionary approach' is fully satisfied by adopting the ICNIRP guidelines. That is the basis of Government policy on masts, enshrined in the assertion in PPG8 that "if a proposed mobile phone base station meets the ICNIRP guidelines for public exposure it should not be necessary to consider further the health aspects and concerns about them." This passage in PPG8 has led to numerous court rulings against individuals and local groups claiming that ICNIRP guidelines don't offer sufficient protection, and in many cases to massive costs awards against those making such claims (implying that those claims are unreasonable).
Click here to view the source article.
Source: Written by Dr. Grahame Blackwell - www.starweave.com.

OFFICER reveals health fears for TETRA
United Kingdom Created: 18 Jul 2005
OFFICER'S RADIO SURVEY REVEALS HEALTH FEARS

BY JON DI PAOLO 10:30 - 19 May 2005

A policeman has revealed a catalogue of illnesses his colleagues claim they have suffered since they started using a controversial radio system.

Pc Guy Hubbard launched a survey of officers' health following the death of his friend, Pc Neil Dring, last year.

Pc Dring's family blamed the new Airwave radio system he used day to day for triggering the cancer that killed him.

Pc Hubbard's survey asked officers to fill in an anonymous questionnaire detailing any health problems they had developed since starting to use the handsets.

He stressed the survey was not scientifically rigorous because, although he sent out hundreds of questionnaires, he only received about 100 replies.

However, he said numerous complaints of symptoms such as high blood pressure, nosebleeds and inability to sleep properly included in the replies were cause for concern.

Officers also told him they had suffered headaches, nausea and even non-cancerous growths since the Airwave system was brought in.

Concerns have been raised that pulsed microwave radiation beamed out by the handheld sets may damage cells in the body, but Government scientists have dismissed the claims.

Pc Hubbard said: "I don't know whether Neil died as a result of using Airwave, but I'm worried. "I'd like to not have to use it, but that's not going to happen."

Neil's brother Ian Dring said some of the symptoms described by police matched those his brother had complained about before he died.

He said: "It confirms Neil was not an isolated incident and it's great cause for concern."

Pc Hubbard and other campaigners nationwide are considering mounting a legal challenge to allow officers to choose whether they use the system.

Tetra - short for Terrestrial Trunked Radio - is the name for a certain type of digital radio technology. Airwave is the Tetra-based system used by UK police.

A spokesperson for Leicestershire police said: "If Leicestershire Constabulary thought that Airwave posed a health risk to officers, the force would withdraw the equipment as soon as possible.

"The force has sought advice from the foremost experts on Tetra technology in the world and the scientific and medical evidence obtained states that Airwave meets all national, European and international health and safety standards.

"Disappointingly, despite being invited to work with the constabulary on this matter, Pc Hubbard has not shared the findings of his questionnaire with the force.

"We understand only 100 people responded and unless the questionnaire was conducted to scientific principles, and with strong control measures, the findings could be open to question.

"We would invite Pc Hubbard to share his findings with us, so that the results can be examined by experts."

Dr Grahame Blackwell, who campaigns for greater openness over mobile phones and health issues, said the findings of the unofficial survey were worrying and mirrored illnesses seen in people living near masts set up for Airwave.

He said: "What the police need to do is seriously, openly and objectively investigate this."

A spokesperson for O2 Airwave declined to comment on the survey as the company had not seen the results.

Earlier this year, the Mercury put in a Freedom of Information request which asked to reveal the locations of the Tetra masts. It was declined on the grounds of policing purposes.

Midlands region faces Mast invasion
United Kingdom Created: 18 Jul 2005
More than 11,000 new mobile phone masts could be put up in the West Midlands, England, a senior Conservative has claimed.

Secretary of State for Local Government calls for urgent changes to be made in planning laws, so that councils can reject applications for masts near homes, schools and hospitals.
Click here to view the source article.
Source: Published in Birmingham Post, 19 May 2005

Prescott 'buried bad mast news'
United Kingdom Created: 18 Jul 2005
John Prescott today faces accusations of deliberately 'burying bad news' after he announced that the government would not be changing planning rules on mobile phone masts.
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Source: Published in Chichester Observer, 7 Apr 2005

Children swap school in phone mast scare
United Kingdom Created: 18 Jul 2005
Two families have withdrawn their children from a school because of fears over a mobile phone mast. One mother feels so strongly about the issue she has moved them from St Mary's Catholic school in Royston, Hertfordshire, to a school of different religion, saying her children's health matters more to her than their faith.
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Source: Published in Evening Standard, 12 Jan 2005

Sleeping near Mobile Phone Base stations accelerates Cancer
United Kingdom Created: 18 Jul 2005
Sleeping near Mobile Phone Base stations accelerates Cancer according to many experts in Microwave Radiation. The reason is because base stations emit 'pulses' which we cannot see or hear but our brain recognizes as a strong form of light. This can suppress the brains production of the hormone Melatonin. Melatonin is is a vital component of the bodies own defence against Cancer.
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Source: Published on www.emf-solutions.org.uk, 2005

Tony Blair backs phone masts
United Kingdom Created: 18 Jul 2005
The Prime Minister yesterday dismissed public concerns about mobile phone masts by insisting they were safe and the Government had no plans to stop them going up.

Our comments:
"Tony Blair is unconcerned about health effects from mast radiation. But then again, there is no mast radiating his house and his family. And he is not exactly known as a honest and trustworthy person."
Click here to view the source article.
Source: Published in Birmingham Post, 9 May 2005

Bid to secure cash for masts research
United Kingdom Created: 18 Jul 2005
Wishaw campaigner Eileen O'Connor is to lobby the European Commission in person in an attempt to secure extra funding for research into the health effects of mobile phone masts.
Click here to view the source article.
Source: Published in Sutton Coldfield News, 6 May 2005

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