School against O2 mast (From Barry And District News)

School against O2 mast

PARENTS and teachers at a Barry primary school are preparing to do battle with mobile phone giant O2 after it was revealed the company is planning to erect a mast just yards from the school.

Despite assurances from the communications giant that the mast will emit hundreds of times less radiation than a mobile phone, the Cwm Talwg community is determined to halt the installation of the pillar.

The headteacher of All Saints Church in Wales, Mr Ware, was informed O2 intend to submit a planning application to the Vale of Glamorgan Council to install a 15 metre (approximately 45 feet) telecommunications post in Cleddau Way in Cwm Talwg.

If successful, it will be placed right alongside a nature conservation area and yards away from the school.

A letter sent to some residents in the surrounding area was passed on to the head on Friday, dated January 28, giving protesters only 14 days from that date to register comments with O2 before the company lodges an official planning application with the local authority.

Ward Councillor Tony Hampton has contacted residents in Severn Avenue, the Brambles and nearby streets, and is keen to get the proposal stopped before it even gets to the council planning department.

He told the Barry and District News: 'When I received the letter as the local member for this ward, I was disgusted to note that only a small proportion of it referred to what was being planned to go where.

'Only the first paragraph outlines the plans.

'It then went on to say how little there is to worry about with regards to health - but how do we know?

'There is still no definitive evidence for or against these masts.

'We have enough telecommunication poles around Barry for sufficient coverage and there is no need for this one, especially so close to a primary school.

'I've been in touch with the Woodland Management Group and Dr Bryan is as set against this proposal as I am.

'This is a conservation area, and even if the post is designed to blend in with the surroundings, I can't see how it can.

'Anything this tall is bound to be conspicuous.

Brambles resident Debbie Hayes, whose children have all attended All Saints, is a member of the Parents and Friends Association of the school.

She said: 'We're already planning on taking a petition around the area to get as many signatures as we can to stop this happening.

'Until there is definite evidence that these poles do not harm our children's health, we will not accept them being placed so close to schools and play areas.'

In 2000, an Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones advised the Government on mobile phone technology's safety.

The report recommended that until more was known about potential health risks there should be a precautionary' approach to exposing children and other vulnerable groups to emissions.

A recent report in the British Medical Journal found there is no evidence to suggest there is a direct risk from telecommunications masts, but called for more research and a cautionary approach'.

The pole is described as a street furniture column' designed to look like a wooden telegraph pole, but the concern over harmful radiation emitted by these masts is still a heavy consideration for many.

All Saints' Mr Ware added: 'It's a silly idea, wanting to put a telecommunications mast so close to a school.

'Until there is definitive information regarding the health risks linked to phones masts, they should be kept well away from our children.'

An O2 spokeswoman said: 'We can understand people's concerns but there are now 60 million mobile phone users. The demand for masts is very much consumer led. We have to put our masts where people use their phones. We are regulated by health and safety and we use low-powered radio transmitters.

'In fact, television masts transmit at around one million watts and our masts are between 70 and 100.

* Protesters are petitioning against phone masts on Merthyr Dyfan Road, next to Bryn Hafren School, a campaign backed by Vale of Glamorgan MP John Smith.