New masts get a bad reception

THEY'VE been linked to everything from suicides in Bridgend to cancer in Bristol, and every time a phone company wants to install a mast near houses, schools and public places there's outcry.

The most recent furore has surrounded a mast installed by Vodafone in Townhill, despite Swansea Council planners voting to reject the company's application.

A delay of 24 hours in telling the company of the council's decision meant the installation could go ahead anyway.

Around 200 local people had signed a petition to stop the mast being built in the middle of a residential area. They were concerned about their and their children's health.

Campaigner Sarah Powell, of Dyfed Avenue, was the main drive behind the petition.

She said: "There's a fear that it could be a health risk. There's so many people who live in close proximity to the land.

"Councillors wouldn't want them in their back gardens, so why should we have them in ours?"

Residents in Gorseinon are also up in arms after Vodafone put up a mast in their community — allegedly without council permission.

Lime Street resident Hazel Stock watched in horror as the mast was being built 15 metres away from her house.

She said: "The feeling is one of disbelief. If we had been turned down by planning permission, we would have had to comply with it. But Vodafone has just gone ahead with it.

"We feel because they are a company they are overriding the residents' and council's wishes. The residents feel it is us versus the big business." But whether they are a blot on the landscape or not, what are the health risks associated with them?

This month, research was released which suggests children and teenagers are five times more likely to get brain cancer if they use mobile phones because of the type of radiation associated with them.

It is thought those under 20 are more susceptible to cancerous cells growing because their brains have not yet fully developed. The radiation from masts has also been linked to high levels of depression.

Roger Coghill, who sits on a Government advisory committee on mobile radiation, discovered that many of the youngsters who killed themselves in Bridgend lived far closer than average to a mast.

Dr Coghill said: "There is research that has, over the years, pointed to the fact that exposure to mobile radiation can lead to depression. There is evidence of higher suicide rates where people live near any electrical equipment that gives off radio or electrical waves."

But what about the other side of the argument? Many scientific bodies have dismissed fears mobile masts cause health problems.

Fears that masts on school buildings expose children to dangerous levels of radiation have been dismissed.

A study by the National Radiological Protection Board found that roofs soaked up the radiation emitted by masts, meaning that levels absorbed by children inside classrooms were very low.

The NRPB carried out tests on 118 different points at 17 sites — at masts near schools and outside offices and homes.

Simon Mann, one of the authors of the NRPB study, said: "There has been huge public concern over exposure to radio waves from base stations, and there was a real need for someone to produce some independent data that could be held up for everyone to see.

"We chose places to investigate where people were concerned about masts, but in all of them we found the levels of radiation were well within guidelines and not hazardous."

But whatever the research shows, one fact remains clear: whenever a mast is installed in a built-up area, the residents make as much noise as they can to get it taken away.

Campaigner John Charleston, who tried to stop O2 installing a mast in his native New Quay, Ceredigion, had the last word.

"Move the mast — end of story," he said.