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Locals in dark on phone mast

7:00pm Friday 2nd March 2007

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RESIDENTS have launched a protest against a mobile phone mast which they say will lead to health risks and the loss of trees.

It is just over a year since Hutchison 3G (H3G) were forced to abandon the use of a new base station at the Holly Tree pub in Moordown due to fierce local objections.

Now they face a similar battle in trying to get a mast erected on Castle Lane West to the rear of the Cotswold unit, with the council receiving 65 objections from residents.

John Dewar, who helped rally protestors, said: "They wanted to knock down these huge 90-year-old trees that are next to it if they interfere with the signal, which would be a disaster.

"We've lost so many trees around this area in recent years that we can't let these go."

Residents are also worried about the health implications of placing a mast in a residential area and adjacent to several busy shops.

"There's no conclusive evidence regarding radiation risks, but while there are still questions, we just don't want it around here.

"And once you've had one up, you get more."

Retailers are also angry about the apparent favouritism shown towards big companies.

Justin Cook, of Hollywood Fancy Dress, said: "We've tried to build a conservatory or move a couple of trees in our back yard, and we get turned down.

"But when a company like H3G shows up, they're allowed to tear them all down."

H3G spokesman Mike Dobson said: "H3G has been seeking to improve the reception for its mobile phone network in the Moordown, Muscliff and Redhill areas for some considerable time.

"This area is highways land and mobile phone operators are entitled to seek to use that. The proposed telecommunications base station would be a 15-metre ultra-slim street furniture pole with the antennas, which are located at the top of the pole, shrouded.

"In order for the installation to meet our technical requirements we are asking the council to agree to some modest trimming of trees next to the bus stop."

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Mr.P.S.Kerr, Redhill Park says...
9:36pm Fri 2 Mar 07

So much for Councillor Gravgaard's excellent research, of 79% of 163 residents in the area saying it would be acceptable to move it there! Perhaps what we should ask is How many residents in that area actually want to watch Sky TV and the like on their mobile? I think the going rate at the moment is about 3%. Thats what a 3G service is all about!

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Colin, Bournemouth says...
10:21pm Fri 2 Mar 07

Put it in the middle of tha car park outside Cotwolds then, i need my mobile 3G! Have you seen some of the **** thats going to be available?

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Andy, Bournemouth says...
8:18am Sat 3 Mar 07

3G lets you use your phone for email and web along with video calls. I use viseo calls to see my distant relatives and it's great. Get with the times. At every 'protest' to a phone mast I'd like someone to do a survey amongst protesters as to who has a mobile with them at that very moment - you'd be surprised! I saw a protest once were someone was using a mobile to call for more protesters to come down as the press had turned up!! A case of NIMBY.

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Techno-king, Dorset says...
10:07am Sat 3 Mar 07

Luddites !

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Mr.P.S.Kerr, Redhill Park says...
7:02pm Sat 3 Mar 07

Well that looks like 2 mobile users that need 3G, not sure about Techno King!
Let us be sure of one thing though, the more services and the more subscribers there are to 3G, the more masts there will have to be or the power will have to be increased on the existing masts! Isn't that correct Messrs. Orange,Hutchison, Vodafone, 'T'Mobile and O2?
Hence now we have a total Effective Radiated Power from the antennae at Redhill Fire Station of 3 kilowatts, and heres the worst scenario if the operators all used the Max. they could under the conditions of their licences it would be over 7 kilowatts!
STILL WANT 3G I DONT!

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Tony, B'mth says...
7:29pm Sat 3 Mar 07

Calm down folks. The two-way nature of the system means that a mast will only talk to a phone if the phone can talk to the mast. Therefore the actual power output of the mast in its communication with a particular phone is similar to that of the phone it's in contact with. It's like being in the street shouting to someone standing on top of the tower, and them shouting back to you. If you were further away, there's no point in the person on top of the tower shouting ten times as loud if they can't hear your reply.

So, the actual power of the transmission is similar to that of an ordinary mobile phone. It's actually slightly more, but it's not VASTLY more. The mast is communicating on a two-way basis with a set of phones in its zone. There are typically a dozen channels and four time-slots, so in effect the actual total power is fifty times that of a phone. But because of the inverse-square law, the bottom line is this: If your head is seven times further away from a mobile phone mast than it is from a phone, you are being bombarded by more radiation from the phone than from the mast! Your phone is more dangerous than any mast and your Hoover is probably more dangerous than your phone as it gives off a higher EMF !

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Mark, Bournemouth says...
1:10am Sun 4 Mar 07

Tony, nicely put. One more thing to say is that mobile phones adjust their output power according to their ability to talk to a local mast. This is to maximise battery power. Since most of our absorbed RF comes from the phone, this is much lower when there is a local mast because the phone can crank down its output power.

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Catherine, moordown says...
8:50am Sun 4 Mar 07

On reading some of the objection letters at the town hall, do you realize that it came from Bournemouth council that the trees had to be removed. Hutchinson have never said they want them removed. And also it is said in a lot of letters that there are other sites. Please can you tell me where they are as I was aware that all other possible sites had been considered in great depth.

Where were you all when Hutchinson held there drop in session for residents to discuss their worries, and to see what needed to be done regarding the trees. I think it amounted to no more than ten very small branches that would have to be removed from one tree. My husband attended the session and appoximately a dozen other residents turned up. Why did more of you not turn up?


e phone

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louise sheppard, Moordown says...
12:36pm Sun 4 Mar 07

For all of you that have written to object to the cotswolds mast, there seems to be a lost of misinformed residents. Do you not realise that this site is a REPLACEMENT for the Holly tree mast that was sited 5 metres for two small children's bedrooms! A group of committed residents of Moordown have worked incredibily hard for 15 months now to negotiate with H3G for a more suitable site away from homes. Numerous sites were located, discussed and each one of them discounted by H3G. There were only two sites that were agreed with H3G, outside the PDSA in Castle Lane and behind the Cotswold Store Castle Lane, PDSA was discounted by the residents as it was too close to residential properties. The site at the Cotswold was the only one left, it is considerably further from homes, those people objecting from business premises are only there max 8hours a day and can go home, those of us by the Holly Tree with small children have it 24hrs a day and our children who attend Winton School have it there also. The schools located in the Muscliffe area do not have masts! For those of you who are critising us protestors, once and for all WE ARE NOT AGAINIST MOBILE PHONES, WE WANT SAFER SITING OF MASTS! WE ALL DRIVE CARS DOES THAT MEAN WE SHOULD ALL HAVE A MOTORWAY IN OUR GARDEN? Please can I urge everyone complaining, come and look at where the Holly Tree Mast is and then look at where it is proposed to be moved, there is no comparison. Be under no illusion that this is the last call for H3G if the mast is not agreed for the Cotswolds the Holly Tree will be switched on, can you really feel this is acceptable for the poor family who live next door?
Also you should all be aware that it was Bmth Council who said the trees needed to come down, H3G have never asked for this, they only want a few branches trimed, whoever has told residents otherwise is completely misinformed. PLEASE DO THE RIGHT THING AND support this application.

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Mr.P.S.Kerr, Redhill Park says...
12:37pm Sun 4 Mar 07

Well if the power from phone masts is so minimal perhaps someone can explain why the coax used by Vodafone at Redhill Fire Station is Andrews Heliax LDF6 11/4" (50 ohm impedance) with a power rating of 2 Kilowatts @ 2100Mhz. I know they have to allow for losses but don't we think that is a bit extreme! Incidentally Hutchison recently changed their coax cables to Andrews Heliax AVA7-50 and its average power rating for 2100 Mhz just under 3 Kilowatts!
Come on Phone Companies tell us these Masts are absolutely safe And please dont tell us how many times the emissions are below the guidelines!
Im sure many more of us would have attended the meeting, if we had only known about it. Mr. Dobson of Hutchison can probably remember me from about a year ago, when we had quite an interesting discussion over the Holly Tree Pub site.

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Mark, Pokesdown says...
5:50pm Sun 4 Mar 07

Mr Kerr, there are 2 possibilities. One is that the cables are just a standard type used that happen to maximum rating far beyond what is required. Much like when we plug christmas lights into 240volt, 13amp sockets. The second is that these transmitters really are much more powerful than the phone companies declare and you have uncovered a massive cover-up involving a number public companies and governmnent bodies.
The data on mobile phone and mast emissions is widely available. You can see the make and model of transmitter from applications. You can probably download the full specification from the equipment manufactuers website too.

Louise - thanks for that very interesting background info. It is a great pity that this information wasn't in the original Echo story.

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CONCERN: John Dewar, front, and residents and traders at the proposed mast site CONCERN: John Dewar, front, and residents and traders at the proposed mast site

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