Mobile mast fears at school site allayed

A BID to give increased protection to a Northumberland school and nearby homes which were threatened with a controversial mobile phone mast has been given top-level approval.

Anger erupted last year over two separate attempts by telecommunications giant O² to erect a phone mast on The Broadway in Darras Hall, Ponteland.

The company eventually agreed not to go ahead after hundreds of placard-carrying locals staged a silent protest outside Darras Hall First School.

Subsequently 1,800 residents signed a petition calling on Northumberland County Council to take action to make it more difficult for phone companies to put up a mast in the neighbourhood.

Earlier this year councillors agreed to use special planning powers to seek a direction under Article 4 of the Town and Country Planning Act in a bid to give added protection to The Broadway.

Now the order has been confirmed after no objections were raised by the Secretary of State, O², or any other interested parties.

It removes permitted development rights for telecommunications equipment in the area, and gives it increased protection against phone mast development. It means companies such as O² would need to secure full planning approval from the council to put up a mast.

The saga began last year when a county council mistake resulted in O² getting planning permission by default for a 12.5 metre-high mast outside 450-pupil Darras Hall School.
An alternative site further along Broadway was then refused planning permission, leaving the company free to put the mast next to the school.
However, O² agreed to seek a less sensitive site in the wake of the massive public demonstration held in February.

The Article 4 direction was sought to restrict permitted development rights, and address local fears that another telecoms firm could return to the school site and implement the outstanding planning consent.

Yesterday Richard Dodd, who represents Ponteland North on the county council, said seeking the order had been the only option to protect the school site and The Broadway from telecoms development.
He said: "It is all quiet on the western front as far as O² are concerned, but we also have to worry about who or what comes next. Darras Hall School and The Broadway is a sensitive area and the order is a tool which gives us more control over what happens there."
Planning rules say an Article 4 direction can be made where there is a "real and specific threat to the locality in which the development is to take place". There needs to be a compelling case to justify such a move.

Source: Journal Live

New bid to halt Darras Hall O2 phone mast

Special planning powers could harnessed in a bid to rectify a council blunder which opened the door for a controversial mobile phone mast to be built outside a popular school.

Anger erupted last year when Northumberland County Council's mistake resulted in Telefonica O² getting planning permission by default for the 12.5 metre-high mast outside 450-pupil Darras Hall First School in Ponteland.

Massive public protests have since persuaded the company to seek a less sensitive alternative site - but fears persist that the extant permission means the mast could still be built.

Now local county councillors have unanimously agreed to seek an Article 4 direction from the Secretary of State, which would revoke the permitted development rights for the school site and give it increased protection against phone mast development.

The move - agreed by the council's west area planning committee - is in response to a 1,800-signature petition from local residents calling for Darras Hall's Broadway area to be safeguarded.

It comes just weeks after hundreds of local people staged a silent protest outside the school, which persuaded O² to drop its plan to build the mast there.

The company is now working with council planners to identify an alternative location, but worries remain that it or another telecoms firm will return to the school site and implement the outstanding planning consent.

Richard Dodd, who represents Ponteland North on the county council, said seeking the Article 4 direction was the only option to protect the site from development.

"As local councillors we have to leave no stone unturned on this, and that is what we are trying to do. None of us are against mobile phone masts but we don't want them put outside a school.

"O² have said they won't put their mast there but this direction would make sure nobody else does either. O² might be playing the good guy but someone else could step in if planning permission exists there. If this direction is approved, there would have to be a completely new planning application and a prospective developer would have to start from scratch.

"What we are trying to do here is rectify a mistake made by the council's planning officials."

A council spokeswoman said the exact parameters of the area to be covered by an Article 4 direction would be agreed at the next meeting of the planning committee.

Permission for the school site was gained by default last May, when the council failed to make its decision to reject O²'s application within the required 56-day timescale. That sparked fury amongst parents, staff and governors at the school, and hundreds more residents opposed an alternative site further along The Broadway.

Planning rules say an Article 4 direction can be made where there is a "real and specific threat to the locality in which the development is to take place".

A report to the committee by officers said there needs to be a "compelling case" to justify such a move.

Source: Journal Live

Families Vow to Stop Darras Hall O2 Phone Mast

FAMILIES fighting plans to put up a mobile phone mast near homes and a school say they are even more determined to succeed following a visit by a leading radiation expert.

Hundreds of parents and other local residents have opposed two separate bids by Telefonica O2 to erect the mast on The Broadway in Darras Hall, Northumberland – both of which have been rejected by county councillors. 02 – which is currently considering its next move – has gained planning permission by default for a site outside the local primary school, after the council failed to make its decision within the required timescale earlier this year.

Now campaigners say their resolve to win the fight has been strengthened after around 200 local people attended a public meeting in Ponteland Memorial Hall, addressed by academic and author Barrie Trower.

Mr Trower, a scientific adviser to the Radiation Research Trust, outlined his serious concerns about research carried out into the public health impacts of radiation from telecommunications masts. He told the audience there are no known safe levels of microwaves for children, and gave evidence about 200 alleged cancer clusters in schools which have transmitters near them.

Mr Trower also referred to research which suggests that microwaves can change DNA in cells, with the possibility that children can carry genetic faults.

Yesterday businessman Ian McLean, who lives in The Drey, Darras Hall, and has a child at the first school, said: “We were delighted with the turnout and at the end of the meeting we held a vote. Not a single person was in favour of having a mast on Broadway.

“Barrie Trower presented some very disturbing and worrying evidence and research, which has been peer-reviewed. We would beg O2 to take the precautionary route and not make us part of a giant experiment.

“They should be taking their mast away from a residential area and the school. Following the meeting, people are even more determined to fight this proposal.”

Mr Trower told The Journal that local referendums should be held over plans to site phone masts near people’s homes, with the results binding on both the local community and the proposed developer.

“If a local population says we think this is too dangerous then nobody should force a mast on them.

“I don’t think it will ever happen, because there is too much money involved,’’ he added.

02 says all of its installations conform with guidelines from the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection. “The World Health Organisation has issued a factsheet summarising research to date and its conclusion was that there is no risk to people’s health as a result of living near mobile phone base stations,” it adds.

Source: Journal Live