Residents pledge to fight mast plans (From Hampshire Chronicle)

Residents pledge to fight mast plans

5:01pm Wednesday 1st October 2008

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RESIDENTS have rallied to protest about Vodafone’s plans to build three phone masts in Winchester.

They have pledged to fight the schemes at Abbotts Barton, Badger Farm, and Weeke, which will come before planners in a few weeks’ time.

Those worried about the proposed mast at the junction of Worthy Road and Stoke Road in Abbotts Barton met there on Tuesday to show their opposition.

They included mother-of-three Julie Mitton, who lives in Stoke Road.

She said: “I think a lot of people are planning to write to the council to object.

“We do have concerns about the health issues, but apparently that doesn’t apply in planning, so we’ll have to talk about the visual intrusion and what it will look like.”

She also asked why Vodafone could not put the mast in the countryside nearby, away from the housing estate.

Residents fighting the Badger Farm proposals have also questioned the company’s choice of sites.

Brian Laming lives in Wheatland Close and his property overlooks the proposed plot at the corner of St Annes Close and Ridgeway.

He said rival firm, Orange, already had a mast further up Ridgeway, which probably gave better coverage.

He said: “There are concerns about the health risks of the Vodafone mast, but we can’t put that down as an objection.

“It could end up that this mast will lead to a radiation hotspot very close to houses.”

Mr Laming added that residents successfully fended off another application at the site in 2000.

The site of Vodafone’s third proposed mast, at the corner of Stockbridge Road and Burnett Close in Weeke, also has a controversial history.

In 2002, Hutchison 3G tried to build at the former Texaco garage nearby, but the plans were shelved after residents threatened to boycott the filling station.

It has since been demolished to make way for the new Waitrose store.

Vodafone wants to build on the roadside verge, and residents are preparing for battle once more.

Mother-of-three Lydia Revett, of nearby Parkside Gardens, said the 2002 plans triggered a 700-strong petition, and the new scheme was also likely to be unpopular.

She added that Winchester City Council should have been more precise in identifying the proposed site.

She said: “In the notification letters, it just said ‘Stockbridge Road’, but that could be anywhere between the city centre or even out towards Stockbridge.”

Lib Dem prospective parliamentary candidate for Winchester, Martin Tod, has backed the residents’ campaign.

He said: “It’s not very helpful just to tell people that a new mast is on Worthy Road or Stockbridge Road — they’re both quite long.

“All of the proposals are pretty ugly — or visually intrusive as the planners put it — and there are also traffic safety questions.

“The important thing now is that local people are heard and that enough people are able to get their views in ahead of the deadline.”

His Tory rival, Steve Brine, said: “Vodafone are entitled to re-submit, but I hope residents will re-submit their feelings on the subject and that the council will listen to them in all three cases.

“More generally, I think we should be honest enough to admit that most of us use mobile phones and that is not going to change anytime soon.

“But until the science makes it clear beyond reasonable doubt, we cannot comfortably accept powerful phone masts in highly populated residential areas.”

A Vodafone spokesman said the masts were needed to provide mobile phone users with broadband-speed internet.

He said: “The locations on Ridgeway, Badger Farm, and Stockbridge Road, Weeke, were chosen after consideration of five other sites in each case, as they provide a backdrop of street furniture and trees against which the proposed pole and antennas will not be visually intrusive.

“Vodafone remains committed to community consultation, and even though applications have been submitted for the three sites, we are happy to answer any questions that local stakeholders have.”

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