Protesters vent fury over mast (From Stroud News and Journal)

Protesters vent fury over mast

FURIOUS protestors who blockaded a mobile phone mast site this week claimed they had been hoodwinked by a telecoms giant.

Suspicions that something was going on were raised in Westward Road, Ebley on Friday when One2One workmen arrived at the site next to the IMO car wash to dug footings for the 15m-high pole with a 2m-high antenna.

Shocked residents said they knew nothing about the mast and accused the company of not obtaining planning permission.

The protestors immediately mounted a campaign to halt the work and over the weekend they put up a banner on the other side of the road and blocked builder's access by parking cars in front of the site.

On Monday morning they marched to Stroud District Council's Ebley Mill headquarters and demanded to know why the work was going ahead.

"This will be 15 metres from homes and 500 metres from a school," said angry Westward Road mother Caroline Eaton, whose home faces the mast site. "We are very worried about it."

Ray Rockney of nearby Elizabethan Upholstery said the workmen arrived without warning.

"It just happened out of the blue," he said. "We are concerned that if we are underneath it, it could harm us."

Ian Gobey, SDC head of development, explained that One-2-One had played by the book when it told the council it was going to do the work - but since then, a change in planning law meant consultation has been widened.

Because the mast itself is under 15m tall he said it did not need planning permission. One2One submitted prior notification to SDC and posted a notice on a lamppost, nearly two years ago. At the time, that was all an applicant needed to do. SDC checked that One2One had done so and put the notification on its weekly list.

Westward Road residents said they did not see the notice at the time. Under new legislation which came in too late for them, they along with Cainscross Parish Councilwould have been sent a letter.

"It looks like our only option now is to see what One2One can do," said another Westward Road resident Martin Birch.

Stroud District councillor Andy Read (Lab, Cainscross) invited some of the residents to Ebley Mill to discuss their concerns with Mr Gobey on Monday.

"They One2One cleverly played the system and built it to 15 metres, two years ago," he told the News & Journal. "There was no requirement at the time for Stroud District Council to tell neighbours or the parish council."

One2One spokesman Gordon Simmons sought to allay health fears and explained that he would be willing to meet with residents to discuss their concerns.

"At the time there were no known objections to the development," said Mr Simmons. "We do understand that putting base stations in and around communities can sometimes cause concern.

"The use of mobile phones has grown at a phenomenal rate - they are being used more and more from residential areas."

He said emissions from similar masts comply to National Radiological Protection Board and World Health Organisation guidelines and are lower than those found in the home.

A public meeting has been called for tonight (Wednesday) at 6pm in St Matthews School, Cainscross.

*Stroud District Council development control committee once again turned down a planning application for a TETRA mast for emergency services' communications at Selsley Common last week, on grounds of considerable public concern over the health risks associated with the development.