“I used to be able to see the old mast out my bedroom window and since it has gone I have not been able to recieve any signal, I think the mast should go up as now I cant get and signal in my house”

“At a MATCHO meeting in Townhill/Mayhill I attended last week, I made reference to the Townhill Mast. Councillors David Hopkins and Peter May were present. They did not mention that Vodaphone had used the same 'ploy', non arrival of the Area Planning Committees Notice, with regards to the Gorseinon Mast nor did they answer my repeated requests of what would be happenning to the Townhill Mast i.e. Would it be coming down?

Therefore, now two communities are left in limbo. We cannot blame the Councillors for not supporting residents in the first instance, as a collevtive. However, little seems to have been done to Lobby our National Governments to change the law of Masts erection, to take into considerstion the concerns of most residents regarding health and the environment.

Jim Sheridan”

“Hi Martin. I agree that large companies offer employment. I was not arguing to the contrary. My point was merely to point out that unless companies operate in a responsible way, they can also be the cause of tremendous damage. I remember once visiting an internet cafe while on business in Taipei, the capital Taiwan. It was quite late, so I was surprised to see so many teenagers there playing video games. I asked the proprietor if the kids played violent games. He replied that they were not allowed to. I then asked was this a Taiwanese law, and replied no, but internet cafe owners had a responsibility to the society. If kids stated to emulate the action in the videos or took unhealthy role models the whole society would be adversely effected. I thought, now here is capitalism at its best - with responsibility. In the UK, no company would temper their profits unless regulated by the government. Here, it's all about what can I get and screw the rest - and we see the results on our streets every night! Taiwan, on the other hand, offers a very safe environment. During my stay in Taipei, I never saw drunk youth. In fact, everyone I spoke to was very helpful and generous with their time. Now I put it to you, are UK youth born with more anti-social genes than their counterparts in Taiwan or is it that the influences they experience in life less nurturing here than in Taiwan? Personally, I think companies like Vodofone should act in a responsible way as do the Taiwanese. They were aware that they their planning application had been refused, but they choice to ignore it - and this was not merely a nymby response, as the refusal was from the city council, not the local street owners. However, I agree that the council needs a clear policy on mobile phone masts. They are a necessary evil, and so the council should offer alternatives to placing them in high density housing areas. Anyway, Martin, thanks for raising some good points. As a society, it is healthy to discuss issues that effect us all. Cheers.”

“Sorry to disagree Steve but Swansea don't actually have a coherent policy when it comes to mobile phone masts. As a result, companies like Vodafone will employ specialists to exploit loopholes. Capitalism is not a river but a circulatory system whereby profits are reinvested into business so that they can create growth and sustain employment. By comparison, public bodies like local authorities are sinkholes into which our money disappears regardless of perfomance or professional ability.”

“It is arrogance because our elected officials had already denied planning permission for this mast and Vodafone took advantage of the council's tardiness to go against our wishes. A responsible company would not act in this way. And, please don't excuse the company by saying 'that's business', because it is just this sort of myopic attitude that has caused global warming and the current financial crisis. Capitalism is like a river. When controlled and harnessed, it nourishes and benefits the land, but when left uncontrolled it creates havoc and destruction.”

“This doesn't surprise me. Swansea Council planning department already has one of the worst reputations in Wales when it comes to supporting business. It is only natural that their administration systems would be equally useless.”

“why is this arrogance? if the council has not followed procedure but blames vodafone for installing the mast then which party is being arrogant? the only reason that vodafone would install an expensive mast anywhere is owing to there being a demand for an improved service to its customers in an area - if all mobile users in the area wish to be without masts then please stop using your mobile phones - NIMBY attitudes as usual.”

“What utter arrogance! Vodafone needs to remember that the people it is trampling on are its potential customers. I certainly will not use this company's services in the future as protest over this incident.”