SUBJECT:
URGENT: new phone mast proposed on Redington Gardens, Hampstead, NW3 – deadline for objections is Wednesday 5th September 2012
Body:
PHONE OPERATOR EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE (ORANGE/T-MOBILE) HAS APPLIED FOR PLANNING PERMISSION TO ERECT A 25 FOOT BLACK METAL PHONE MAST AND EQUIPMENT CABINET ON REDINGTON GARDENS, HAMPSTEAD.
YOU CAN OBJECT TO THE APPLICATION BY SENDING AN EMAIL TO CAMDEN COUNCIL OR LODGING AN ONLINE OBJECTION BEFORE NEXT WEDNESDAY 5TH SEPTEMBER.
How you can object - deadline 5th September 2012.
The large mast and equipment cabinet will be prominent. The site is in a Conservation Area, only a few metres from the houses on Redington Gardens, within 100 yards of a children’s playground and close to St Margaret’s School at 18 Kidderpore Gardens.
Residents’ objections often make a difference to whether the application is approved or rejected.
To lodge an objection, you can either:
1. Email the planning officer, Neil Zaayman ([email protected] ). You may choose to use some of the points raised in the example email below (but you must make them a bit different otherwise Camden will consider all letters which look the same to be one objection);
OR
2. Lodge the objection on Camden’s online form (max 2000 characters) at http://planningrecords.camden.gov.uk/Northgate/PlanningExplorer17/PLComments.aspx?pk=320726 Again you can use the points made in the example email below.
The Council cannot reject the application on health grounds, so the objection needs to highlight valid planning objections like damage to visual amenity.
Here is an example of the points you could make but please put them in your own words otherwise the objection may be ignored by the Council:
Subject: Application Number 2012/3961/P for phone mast on Redington Gardens
Dear Mr Zaayman
I would like to lodge an objection to the planning application by Everything Everywhere for a phone mast on Redington Gardens (application number 2012/3961/P):
1. Detrimental to visual amenity in a Conservation Area
a) The operator’s report recognises that the site is in a sensitive area and that it creates a proliferation of street furniture but argues that the site is of lesser architectural value than other streets within the Conservation Area. This fails to recognise that Oak Tree house is of historical significance and that The Redington/Frognal Conservation Area Statement recognises that the road and houses 1 – 3 and 15 Redington Gardens make a positive contribution to the Conservation Area.
b) The height and size of the mast is dis-consonant with the characteristics of the Conservation Area and will dominate and irreversibly damage the street-scene.
c) The designs of the cabinets are unattractive and they are huge. The proliferation of clutter will be detrimental.
d) The siting of the mast next to the curb means that it will not be masked by nearby trees. It stands proud in its setting, is overpowering and ugly and the 2 huge cabinets will stand proud of the vegetation.
e) The cabinets and pole will restrict the footpath impeding access by pedestrians, including many with children in pushchairs accessing the playground nearby.
2. Detrimental to children’s health
a) This is an inappropriate location for this equipment, in the middle of a residential area, adjacent to a children’s playground and near to four primary schools.
b) The electromagnetic radiation emitted by phone antennae has been classed as “possibly carcinogenic” within class 2B by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). Peer-reviewed scientific studies point to potential health damage and there is a growing consensus that any detrimental health effects are greater for children.
3. Inadequate consultation
The August school holidays is an inappropriate time for an application of this kind.
Yours, etc
If you have time to send a quick email to the local councillors to voice your concerns, here are their details:
Andrew Mennear - [email protected]
Gio Spinella - [email protected]
Laura Trott - [email protected]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Health effects of phone masts
Scientists are divided about the health effects of phone masts. Some studies have found a link with cancer and other symptoms, including allergies, sleep disturbance and depression. Children are widely thought to be more vulnerable to any harmful effects.
Last year, the World Health Organization’s scientific panel, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), categorised phone radiation within class 2B – “possibly carcinogenic”.
Some of the studies are listed at: http://tinyurl.com/9nbnwhm
Information can also be obtained from http://www.mastaction.co.uk/ and http://www.mastsanity.org/