Fury as nursery moves in near phone mast

Published 13 Jul 2010 16:00 2 Comments

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TEACHERS are concerned that a new phone mast near their nursery will affect their practice as well as children's health.

Edith Rose Nursery school will soon be relocating to Kennel Rise, near to New Road where a 14.8m high Vodafone/Telefonica O2 phone mast is to be installed.

The school is worried that the mast, which will stand 40m from their new building will not allow the children to play outside as much and could impact on their health.

Laura Cassell, manager of the Edith Rose nurseries which is currently based in Station Road, Ascot, said: "Nobody consulted us about the phone mast even though it has been known that there's going to be a nursery here for about a year.

"There has been evidence to show that phone signals are not good for the brain development of young children.

"We want them to learn in a natural environment and we teach them about nature but these waves will be around and that won't be natural."

Miss Cassell is also concerned that the close proximity of the mast may limit the amount of time the children can be outside because of any health impacts.

She added: "Children should be allowed free access to outside, if they cannot play outside then it is not being true to their development needs.

"I doubt parents are going to be very happy about this, so the mast affects our practice as well as health."

James Stevenson, communications manager for O2 UK, said: "There is no legislation that determines how far a phone mast must be from a school.

"We can assume that the children will be perfectly safe and under no danger as there is no evidence to say that there is a health risk.

"We are putting up the mast to improve the service to the people of Ascot."

Vincent Haines, head of development at Bracknell Forest Council, said: "The application submitted a certificate which confirms that the proposed mast meets international independent guidelines for public exposure to radio frequency waves."

He added that the National Planning policy guidance from Government said the planning system is not the place to determine heath safeguards.

Dr Rob Matthews, Unit Manager for Vodafone UK, said "We recognise that some communities are concerned regarding the deployment of radio base stations close to residential areas but without radio base stations, mobile phones will not be able to work.

"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."

This article appeared in Villager 08 Jul 10

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Sharon77
1 post
Jul 14, 07:31
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Mr. Stevenson says that Vodafone can place its transmitters anywhere he wants because there is no legislation. Then, we should demand legislation. Scientific evidence from independent (not industry funded) scientists have shown consistently that radiation from cell transmitters can lead to many health problems, especially for children. And they will be exposed whether inside or outside the daycare centre. A building is no defense. The international bodies which establish exposure limits and guidelines are affiliated with the industry, as documented by Dr. Don Maisch of Australia, and have been proven to be inadequate for this type of radiation. It is well past the time when the governments must establish new protective guidelines based on biological effects, and not ones that are implemented at the behest of the telecommunication companies.

Vodafone should be ashamed for being such an irresponsible corporate citizen. But until we get legislation in place we must boycott Vodafone. If people didn't use their phones, there would be no need for transmitters.

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Johnson
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Jul 15, 12:24
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"We can assume that the children will be perfectly safe and under no danger as there is no evidence to say that there is a health risk". So Mr Stevenson, we can assume the children will safe can we? It was also assumed that thalidomide and smoking were safe Mr Stevenson.

Of course O2's Mr Stevenson is wrong. 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. That's why the cancer clusters continue to increase in the vicinity of phone masts. Phone operators such as Mr Stevenson dismiss such research, alleging that their own studies suggest no health risk. However 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 industry attempts to persuade us that these mast microwave emissions are safe because they comply with the ICNIRP (International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection) guidelines. These international guidelines were only designed for one thing. To protect the Industry and their profits. These guidelines were introduced in 1992, in the technology's infancy, 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 measured the thermal (heating) effects of the masts microwave emissions on dead meat! This absurdity is all that stands between us and the risk of life threatening or chronic illness. The (ICNIRP) guidelines as 'protection' are equivalent to a fireguard in front of a defective, carbon monoxide emitting gas fire - it might stop you getting burned but you might not be alive to care.

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