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From: Tim Loughton
Date: 10 April 2004
Dear Mr Davidson
Thank you for your e-mail. I am sorry that you have not had a reply by e-mail but I was under the impression that my office had sent you a reply by hard copy including copies of letters from TETRS from the Home Office Minister Hazel Blears and Public Health Minister Melanie Johnson. I have also written to the Director of Public Health for the Adur, Arun and Worthing PCT although it is very early days to assess whether there have been any effects linked to the TETRA masts locally. Local health officials will follow guidance issued by Government nationally and based on advice from Government scientific and health advisers and the experience of other parts of the country, such as Lancashire, where the system has been in use by police there for over 5 years. [ed.: the trial was started in January 2001]
As to what I am likely to achieve, working together with other concerned residents and activists, I set these considerations out initially:
- Residents deserve a better explanation of what O2's intentions are with proper consultation about where they are looking to site masts - this clearly did not happen with Woodside Road
- An assumption that masts should not be sited close to densely populated residential areas, particularly close to schools, hospitals and concentrations of elderly people. Clearly Woodside Road falls foul of those considerations.
- Redress for residents who are now having problems with their TV reception. This appears to be limited to the immediate vicinity of Woodside Road at the moment.
What I am looking to achieve therefore, and what is achievable locally, is moving the mast from Woodside Road to a less sensitive site as far away from homes as possible. As regards alternative sites - Kenny Brady has put 7 alternative sites to O2 with the help of Worthing's planning department. O2 will be running modeling tests to see if they offer the required range of coverage before moving on to assessing their availability and were very positive about these alternatives being viable. In most cases I think availability should be relatively straightforward. As regards closing down the whole TETRA operation in Sussex and nationally this is a decision which would be made by Government and there is no evidence of any willingness or pressure based on experience, rather than scaremongering, to achieve it. I am more concerned with working on what is achievable, as I think most of the people who have expressed concerns to me, are too.
I can claim no responsibility for 'shutting up' the local Worthing protest group. I do not see why organising a meeting with O2 to include a small group of local residents should diminish the enthusiasm of your supporters for your campaign. It does seem however that we are making more progress about moving the Woodside Road mast by working constructively with O2 to enlist their help given they are fully within their rights to keep the mast where it is and do not have to take any notice of us at all under the way planning law currently stands. The Conservative Party did of course propose changes to planning laws at the last election which would give far greater powers to local people and their councils over developers (mast operators included) and I hope that we will be including similar pledges in our next election manifesto too.
I hope we will be able to report on further progress before too long and I am sure Kenny Brady will want to keep you posted when we are.
Tim Loughton MP
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