news story
26th October 2006
New Petition Launched to Fight "Mast Madness"
Click here to sign the petition
Northavon MP Steve Webb and local Lib Dem councillors have today
launched a petition campaign to fight back
against the proliferation of mobile phone
masts in the local area. The MP has launched
an online petition on his website calling
for a change in the law so that mobile phone mast applications
have to go through a full planning appraisal
before they can be approved. At present, the vast majority of
mast applications are fast-tracked through the
planning system and local people have very
little opportunity to object. Local councillors in Yate and
Dodington will be distributing paper
copies of the petition that local residents can sign.
Councillor Paul Hulbert, who has been leading the local campaign against
masts in Dodington, welcomed the
petition. He said: "I know that local people
feel very strongly about the growing number of
masts around the area and feel powerless to
stop them. This petition will help the
Government to realise the strength of feeling
that the rules must be changed".
Councillor Kay Crowe, who has been in contact with phone operators O2
about the mast in Rodford Way, encouraged
residents to sign up to the petition. She
said: "It is quite wrong that mobile phone
masts get special treatment under the planning
system. The phone companies should have to
work much harder to convince planners that
masts couldn't be put in less conspicuous places.
Local MP Steve Webb said that previous attempts in Parliament to change
the law had been thwarted by the Government
but that it was vital to keep up the pressure.
He said:
"The more MPs who press the Government for change, the more chance there
is of getting the
law looked at again. I hope to be able to send the
Government a large petition so that
they understand how angry people are at the way that mast
applications are handled".
With over 100 sites in South Gloucestershire identified for potential
new masts over the next year, a large local
response is expected to the petition.
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