Hurray! No mast near our school (From Barry And District News)

Hurray! No mast near our school

A MOBILE phone company's plan to site a new mast near a school has been scrapped, to the delight of pupils and parents of a nearby school.

All Saints Church in Wales School campaigned against the proposed 15-metre (approximately 45ft) mast in Cleddau Way in Cwm Talwg.

A petition with more than 1,000 signatures was presented to the Vale of Glamorgan Council and ward councillor Tony Hampton also pushed for the proposal to be refused.

Headmaster of the school, Richard Ware, said: "It is great news that we will not have a mast so near the school. We are pleased with the result.

"They have to find somewhere to put the structures but I think it was a bad choice to consider putting one here. No-one really knows what will happen in the future.

"We were unhappy that it would encroach on the work that the Woodland Trust has been doing. They have spent a lot of time and effort on the nature conservation area.

"Until the evidence is conclusive about radiation, the school will oppose a mast in the area."

Cllr Hampton said: "In a letter received from O2 we have been assured that the mast will not be put near the school.

"The company are taking another route. They are hoping to share the Barry College mast which is already standing.

"I found out that the local authority could not stop the mast being put there near the school because of a Government directive."

An O2 spokesman said at the time of the proposal in January: "The mast will emit hundreds of times less radiation than a mobile phone."