Go online to check how masts affect you


31 August 2005 13:46

A city MP has urged council chiefs to consider adopting a pioneering scheme which monitors the emissions being pumped from phone masts near homes and schools.

The initiative, one of the first of its kind in the country, involves a device, known as a Cassiopeia, which will measure the electromagnetic field (EMF) in parts of the city affected by phone masts.

Results from the Cassiopeia, which is installed by Vodafone, will be displayed in a graph on the council's website.

Families worried about the health effects of masts can check the website to see if they are within health and safety guidelines.

Dr Ian Gibson, MP for Norwich North, said he supported the scheme, which has been launched in Cambridge, and called on Norwich City Council to take part in a similar scheme.

“Sounds to me like it (the council) recognises the needs of people who are suspicious of masts and who will become suspicious of them in the future,” he said.

“The more data we get the more informed we will become. If there's nothing to hide lets have it, let's be having them.”

Although the monitoring scheme was to be carried out by Vodafone Dr Gibson said it would be better than nothing.

“It's a step in the right direction,” he said. “We have no other regulator prepared to do it at the moment so we should be grateful for this small mercy.”

The Evening News has campaigned against the installation of mobile phone masts near to homes and schools until it is proved they are safe through our Put Masts on Hold campaign.

Hereward Cooke, deputy leader of Norwich City Council, said the council would be supportive of any initiative which would help allay fears about mobile phone masts.

“We could certainly ask our communications department to see what lead Cambridge have taken and whether it could be adapted for Norwich's use,” he said.

“It will need the co-operation of all the mobile operators for it to be really effective. It will mean that each mast will need have to be well defined so it's known which area it covers.”

Mr Cooke said implementing such a scheme in the city would have a number of advantages.

“It could help us to set people's minds at rest as to whether they were in a danger area or not,” he said.

“It would also fall in line with our wish to share as much technical information as possible and thus try and remove the anxieties that people might feel.”

Graham Barker, 67, from Lloyd Road, Taverham, lives near to a controversial replacement mast on Fakenham Road.

He said he would be favour of the scheme being adopted by councils in the area.

“It's a small step in the right direction, a lot of people are concerned about the output from these masts,” he said. “But it would be much better on an independent basis - it's like the phone company policing itself.”

Dr Rob Matthews, from Vodafone who is leading the project in Cambridge, said: “Vodafone's sister companies in Greece and Italy have carried out this type of 24-hour monitoring so we know how well it can work. But now, thanks to the council, for the first time in this country, residents will able to check EMF levels in their own locality.”

Email A Friend

News: Latest headlines on Evening News 24