Protesters Topple Mobile Phone
Masts As Health Scare Spreads
by Daniel Foggo

Activists have begun tearing down mobile-phone masts around the country, as public concern over the health impact of the radiation they emit continues to grow.

The destruction of the masts - as many as four in a single week - signals a dramatic stepping up of the campaign to stop them being placed on top of, or close to, people's houses.

Earlier this month, masts were brought down at Wishaw and Dudley in the West Midlands, Crosby in Merseyside and Tiverton in Devon. At least four have also been brought down in Northern Ireland in recent months.

Although government advisors say there is no evidence that the masts threaten people's health, those living near them have complained of illnesses ranging from cancer to motor neurone disease. Some scientific studies have suggested that the radiation produced by the aerials has an impact on sleeping patterns and could have health implications.

Lisa Oldham, the director of Mast Sanity, a group that campaigns against the masts being sited close to communities, said, "We don't condone the use of criminal acts to bring down the masts, but this does suggest the level of protest against them. We are swamped with people protesting about them. There are thousands of groups trying to get masts moved or trying to prevent new ones being placed near their homes."

At Wishaw, a village near Sutton Coldfield, a 74 ft mobile mast was pulled down in the early hours of November 6th by a protester using a rope and haulage equipment. The mast, which was put up 10 years ago on a narrow patch of land between a field and a livery yard, has been blamed for causing a cluster of cancers in the area.

Among those living in the 18 houses within a 500-yard radius of the mast there are 20 cases of serious illness, including cancers of the breast, prostate, bladder and lung. One man is dying of motor neurone disease. Many of the people affected are in their thirties or forties.

Since the mast was toppled, residents have refused to let the network provider, T-Mobile, replace it and the situation has now developed into an uneasy standoff.

Eileen O'Connor, who lives within 300 yards of where the mast used to stand, had breast cancer two years ago at the age of 38. She noticed that many of her neighbours were attending her hospital with similar problems and set up Sutton Coldfield Residents Against Masts (SCRAM).

"We have absolutely no idea who took the mast down, and obviously it was a dangerous and inadvisable thing to do," said Mrs O'Connor, who runs an Internet advertising business. She and her children, who also suffered ill-effects, sleep under copper-mesh "mosquito nets" in an effort to deflect any mobile phone radiation.

"The first I knew about it was when I looked out of my window in the morning and couldn't see the mast. Apparently the company said they lost the signal at 12.30 am. Someone had unbolted the mast and pulled it over using a rope."

Clare Villanueva, a solicitor and SCRAM campaigner in Wishaw, has written to Crown Castle, the company that owns the land on which the mast stood, saying that it cannot legally gain access to the site to replace the mast because its path crosses someone else's land.

Residents are now carrying out a 24-hour vigil to ensure that a new mast is not set up, and both sides are paying for security guards to patrol the borders of the land. The locals have suggested an alternative location away from habitation for T-Mobile to use, but this has been rejected by the company.

A spokesman for T-Mobile said that the police had been called to investigate. "It defies belief that nobody in Wishaw noticed when the mast was coming down," he said.

A spokesman for the Mobile Operators' Association, which represents the five network providers on health and planning issues, said that all its members operated within accepted World Health Organisation guidelines for radiation emissions and there was no proof that masts caused health problems.

She added, "The number of masts being brought down is very small in the overall scheme of things. However, it is certainly worrying that people are taking direct action, because they could seriously hurt or even kill themselves."
Sunday Telegraph, 30th November 2003

Mast Down in Worcestershire

Vandals have pulled down a mobile phone mast in Worcestershire - the second in the Midlands in recent months.

The mast's owners, mobile phone company 02, say the vandals have caused thousands of pounds of damage and mobile users have suffered a reduction in the service as a result.

They believe the attackers broke through an unsecured fence before pushing over the structure. The 45ft high tower at Hampton near Evesham was toppled over after supporting bolts were unscrewed.

REVIEWING SECURITY
The company is installing a temporary tower to get mobile phone service in the area back to its normal level and will be reviewing the level of security at the site.

Last month a controversial mobile phone mast in the West Midlands, which was blamed by locals for a cluster of health scares, was pulled down.

The mast at Wishaw, near Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, fell down on Bonfire Night, again after bolts were removed from the base.

Residents have now bought the mast from a scrap yard and plan to sell parts of it off as souvenirs.
BBC News, 3rd December 2003

Mast Felled, New Forest
Press release from Byron Avenue phone-mast protesters. 9 December 2003

TETRA MAST DOWN
At approximately midnight last night,a 70-foot TETRA phone mast, near the New Forest and overlooking Southampton Water, was felled by persons unknown. TETRA (TErrestrial Trunk RAdio) is a new system being imposed on police forces by the Home Office. There is a lot of evidence to show that TETRA technology puts users and residents close to base stations at risk from all kinds of life-threatening illnesses - including cancer, epilepsy, and damage to the body's immune system.

The TETRA mast at Home Farm, Dibden near Hythe, unwanted by residents and New Forest District Council, was erected by Airwave O2 in September this year as a 'temporary' mast to bypass planning restrictions. Local residents were in no doubt as to when the mast went live as TV reception was seriously affected over a wide area. The Government's own Radio Communications Agency later confirmed the mast as the source of interference.

Airwave have appealed against the council's decision not to allow a permanent mast on the site because of siting and appearance and lack of evidence to show alternative sites. A public enquiry is scheduled for next year.

Campaigners do not condone illegal action but point out that the Dibden mast is just one of many that have been installed without planning permission. Airwave's behaviour came in for strong criticism when East Hants District Council recently refused to let the company erect TETRA masts without making formal applications. This decision has delayed the testing of the system throughout Hampshire to the great relief of people living near Airwave masts already in place. Police officers are also concerned, pointing to the 177 members of Lancashire Police who reported sick after trialing the system.

Winchester campaigners who have been fighting for three years to prevent an Orange mast in Byron Avenue, close to Western Primary School, say that TETRA is just the latest example of potentially dangerous mobile phone technology being inflicted on an unsuspecting public. "We knew TETRA was coming some while ago," says campaigner Karen Barratt, "that is why we were very concerned when the Airwave mast on the Police HQ in Winchester was given the go-ahead last January without any publicity at all."
Contacts:
Karen Barratt: 01962 864388
Mast Sanity Helpline: 08704 322 377