Tuesday
22nd May 2001
Totnes residents see red over Orange |
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The
future's bright, the future's Orange;
Totnes residents are seeing red over the planned mast
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Parents
in Totnes are being urged to lobby the authorities about the siting
of a mobile phone mast near a primary school in the town.
The mast would be around 200 metres away from the Grove Primary, and
25 metres from the nearest house.
Campaigners also want a new council policy to keep masts away from
human habitation throughout the whole of the South Hams.
At Birdwood House in Totnes, they've set up an exhibition highlighting
what they see as the danger of mobile phone masts.
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Residents
of Totnes have protested before over the siting of mobile
phone masts
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The town has had
this battle before. Plans for a mast at Safeways were thrown out after
public outcry, and campaigners are determined not to let this latest
mast get erected.
Some say the masts have not been proved to be safe, and until they
are, they should be resisted.
The mast is very near the Grove Primary School in the Town and Governor
Rebecca Harwood Lincoln says Mums and Dads are very worried.
Orange, the company which wants to erect the mast, says while it acknowledges
public concern, there is no conclusive evidence linking phone masts
with long-term public health risks.
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A
mobile phone mast prompted this message at an earlier protest
in Plymouth
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But campaigners
are determined to carry on with their protest despite the fact that
Orange doesn't actually need planning permission for the mast. They
want to try and persuade South Hams council to adopt tougher rules;
in particular, to insist on a 500 metre exclusion zone between a mast
and the nearest property, and for all masts - whatever their height
- to go through the planning process.
If they're successful, South Hams could be one of the first councils
in Devon to depart from present procedure and make it more difficult
for the phone companies to put up the phone masts they say they need.
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