Church flag pole could become phone mast (From Richmond and Twickenham Times)
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Flag pole on St Mary’s Church, in Barnes, could become phone mast
7:00am Sunday 16th October 2011 in News By Christine Fleming
A Grade II listed church dating back to the days of the Domesday Book has become the subject of controversy after an application to place a phone mast on its rooftop was submitted.
Vodafone proposed removing an existing flagpole on top of Barnes’ St Mary’s Church and replacing it with a replica pole, housing communications antennae, according to a planning application submitted to Richmond Council.
Social biologist Joyce Morgan, of Dovecote Gardens, Mortlake, said she was shocked at the plans as she worried about health effects of telecommunications equipment.
Vodafone’s network facilitator team said it recognised some communities were concerned about radio base stations close to residential areas, but added without them mobile phones would not be able to work and assured residents its base stations met stringent international guidelines.
Mrs Morgan said: “I did a study of radiation [before] and as far as I know nothing has been proved that this radiation coming from these things are not harmless to human beings. Until they prove they are harmless I think they shouldn’t be erected.”
A spokesman from the Vodafone team said: “All of our base stations are designed, built and operated in accordance with stringent international guidelines laid down by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection.
“The adoption of these guidelines has the formal backing of independent bodies such as the World Health Organisation.”
St Mary’s Church, in Church Road, was seriously gutted by fire in 1978 but has since been rebuilt, incorporating elements of historical significance and is a well known landmark.
If given the go ahead, proposals would see the replacement of its existing 5.3m high timber flagpole with a replica incorporating three telecommunications antennae on the roof of the church tower.
According to the application, the flagpole would be coloured white to imitate the original feature and antennae would be camouflaged and views of the building would not be altered.
Richmond Park MP Zac Goldsmith has written a letter to the council questioning the proximity of telecommunications equipment to schools.
He wrote: “There are unknown health risks associated with these masts, and it is therefore important that they are placed as far away from children and residents as possible.”
The Vodafone spokesman added: “Typical public exposures from our base stations will be many hundreds, if not thousands, of times below these guidelines.”
Residents in Sutherland Grove, Teddington, have also been campaigning against a proposed T-Mobile mast on the roof of their flats.
Comments(2)
lucullus
says...
2:53pm Tue 18 Oct 11
Besides, you can't even separate, in this bizarre post, the radiation from a mobile phone mast and electro-magnetic radiation. Happily for you, the RTT seems to have the same approach to science, though!
spinneyhorse says...
9:11pm Sun 16 Oct 11
http://www.es-uk.inf
o/forums/thread.asp?
threadID=123
Electro-Sensitivity (ES)
Electro-sensitive people suffer from a variety of symptoms in close vicinity to electromagnetic fields, Wi-fi, mobiles, DECT phones, baby monitors, certain light sources etc: Headaches, Speech problems, dizziness, chest palpations, tinnitus, pressure in the ears. sweating at night. skin irritations, pins and needles in the hands in the mornings, short-term memory loss, nauseas, joint aches and pressures at the back of the head as well as in the sinus or forehead area.
Even if you are not ES yet, it is beneficial to turn off your Wifi over night, as well as to ban electrical items, your cordless phones and mobiles from your bedroom. You will sleep much better and are less likely to have an interrupted sleep pattern. Usually waking around 4 am.
Another simple test is to stop carrying your mobile on your body (chest or trouser pockets). in many cases people experience the so-called “phantom text messages”. This describes a situation where every now and then you think you had a text message, when keeping the phone in your pockets, but when you checked there was no message. Some even suffer from heart palpitations. If that is case, just try for a while to carry your mobile in a bag or switch it off, while you have it in your pocket. ( Phone Logging onto mast )
If you want to find out more:
es-uk.info/
electromagneticman.c
o.uk/
magdahavas.com (Canadian website)
mobilewise com
electromagnetichealt
h.org/audio-archives
-and-more/
electrosensitivity.o
rg
powerwatch.org.uk
weepinitiative.org (Canadian website)
feb.se/FEB/feb_techm
an.html (Swedish website)
fullsignalmovie.com/
index.html
safeantenna.org/
radiationresearch.or
g/
mastsanity.org/home.
html
stopsmartmeters.word
press.com/
mast-victims.org/
mastaction.co.uk
http://health.groups
.yahoo.com/group/eSe
ns/
http://www2.macleans
.ca/2011/10/13/refug
ees-in-their-own-lan
d/
http://www.independe
nt.co.uk/life-style/
health-and-families/
health-news/mobile-p
hone-radiation-wreck
s-your-sleep-771262.
html
http://www.dailymail
.co.uk/news/article-
1318992/Mobile-phone
-health-risk-Phone-g
iants-accused-buryin
g-warnings-handsets-
small-print.html
http://www.telegraph
.co.uk/health/health
news/7725169/Landmar
k-study-set-to-show-
potential-dangers-of
-heavy-mobile-phone-
use.html
http://www.timesonli
ne.co.uk/tol/news/uk
/health/article71277
99.ece
http://www.gq.com/ca
rs-gear/gear-and-gad
gets/201002/warning-
cell-phone-radiation
?currentPage=1
http://www.timesonli
ne.co.uk/tol/news/wo
rld/europe/article68
05895.e
http://www.youtube.c
om/watch?v=wqZz-wSqO
tY
http://www.dailymail
.co.uk/sciencetech/a
rticle-1373073/Are-s
ecret-U-S-army-tests
-blame-TV-presenters
-speaking-utter-gibb
erish.html?ito=feeds
-newsxml