WALTHAMSTOW: Health fears over planned phone mast

10:31am Tuesday 11th November 2008

By Claire Hack

A PHONE mast proposed for a residential street has sparked fears over potential health risks to children.

Proposed for Jewel Road, Walthamstow, the mast will apparently serve another borough, leaving residents outraged.

The Guardian has seen a planning application document, stamped by the council, which states the mast will “provide coverage in Newham” - but information from phone company UK01 contradicts this.

A spokesman for the start-up company stated that the mast would not be powerful enough to provide service as far away as Newham.

He added: “The public’s exposure to radio frequency from UK01 base stations is a tiny fraction of guidelines set by the International Commission for Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection.

But Suzie McKenzie-Young, 43, whose home is close to the site, fears children and vulnerable residents will be at increased risk of cancer caused by radio frequency emitted by the mast.

She said: “It’s a very highly populated road and a thoroughfare down to Lloyd Park.

“I went down to the planning office and the application is from a company in Watford. They said it’s the first of many. They seem to think Walthamstow is a soft target.”

All new masts must conform to strict guidelines, but concerns are rife as the proposed site is just a few streets away from Greenleaf Primary School.

Mrs McKenzie-Young said: “The residents are very, very against it. There are children, pregnant women and elderly people living here and if it goes ahead, it’s them who are at risk.”

Philippa Phelps, 38, a probation officer, who also lives nearby, added her concerns, saying protests were gathering against the proposal.

“We just feel that having this within the street is going to create an industrial feel and increase anti-social behaviour,” she said.

“It’s coming up in a poor area and they’re presuming no one’s going to do anything.”

UK01 have also attempted to allay fears their masts will be eyesores, stating they will be using existing structures wherever possible and will also use methods such as site sharing and designing pole structures to look like street lamps.

They aim to be operational by December in Waltham Forest, Redbridge, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Barking and Dagenham.