Brookmans Park Transmission Station, Great North Road, south of
Hatfield, Herts
Updated 11-May-07.
This section aims to inform
you about telecommunication masts generally, and a specific situation in our
parish known locally as the
Our intention is to give
pages on:
- latest
news,
including notes of Action Committee's public meeting held on
- BPTS - the Welwyn
Hatfield Council's master plan for the site giving its history and
future development as planned in 1996
- BPTS - District Plan review 2000 - proposed changes to Master Plan
- BPTS - list of planning applications since 1996
- BPTS - statement by Castle Communications regarding planning applications,
issued 2000
- BPTS Action Committee - reports on their actions, updated
- The Stewart Report - May 2000 - extract and summary of
recommendations (to be expanded)
- Planning appeals decisions since mid 2000, highlighting any
shift in the approach taken by the Planning Inspectors.
- the Archbishop of
Canterbury's Report when available - see latest news below for advance
information.
NOTE - this is a quick
compilation of readily available information. Any information that you can
provide would be very welcome. E-mail our Secretary Bob Horrocks at greenbelt.nm@tesco.net
Latest news, updated
Newspaper reports this week say that research is to
be carried out on the effects of mobile phones other than heat generation. It will investigate claims of other physical
effects, sickness, epilepsy, etc.
update
Recent newspaper reports
say that the Church of England has given the go-ahead to allow mobile phone
dishes and antennas to be erected on church spires and towers. This will
provide a new scource of income for churches. However each new installation
will still require local planning permission and it is thought that there will
be strong local opposition.
Update
The Brookmans Park
Transmitting Station (BPTS) Action Committee held it's third public meeting at
the Dutch Nursery on
The Chairman, Michael
Rosenberg, said that donations had been received from 63 households plus £1,000
from the North Mymms District Green Belt Society and, after paying legal fees
etc, there was about £1,300 in the bank. A committee member, Mr Osborne,
summarised the main objectives of the group as stopping any fu rther
development of this site, and an update of the 1995 Master Plan under which all
planning applications are assessed for approval. Legal advice had been obtained
on the validity of previous planning approvals and actions that might be taken.
After discussions with the Chief Planning Officer of Welwyn Hatfield Council,
all outstanding planning applications have been deferred pending the planned
update of the Master Plan. As part of the consultation on this update, the
Council has been asked to hold a public meeting.
Meetings have been held
with Crown Castle International (CCI) the owner of the site who have now designated
it as a 'community sensitive site'. The committee has been taken round the site
and an experienced committee member has been offered th e use of expensive test
equipment to measure interference etc at various locations. CCI intend to
improve the landscaping and will endeavour to colour the back surface of new
satellite dishes to blend in more with the background.
Last year about 100
residents replied to a circular questionnaire and gave details of interference
etc attributed to this site. These have been analysed on a spreadsheet and
copied to CCI. As a result, CCI is to send engineers to six houses and carry
out detailed investigations. From the floor, a Pine Grove resident asked that
the investigations should be continuous over a week or more and not just an
hour or so. The Committee will ask for a certain Kentish Lane property to be
included since it seems to be particularly affected by acoustic noise.
National and international
research is continuing but has so far failed to prove any health risks from
mobile phone masts or satellite dishes. A spokesman for the Green Belt Society
advised that the Radiocommunications Agency is carrying ou t a national audit
of mobile phone mast emissions, but has had to give priority to masts close to
schools. In response to a point raised about the closeness of Chancellor's
School and Queenswood School, the Green Belt Society will ask the Agency to
reconsider its priority for auditing this site.
Medium wave radio
transmissions cause interference on telephones etc, not mobile phone masts or
satellite dishes. However a private 'cellphone' transmitter on the site may be
causing interference with remote controls for cars, garage doors TVs etc. CCI
is investigating to see if the waveband can be adjusted to reduce this
interference.
The Action Committee is now
a member of MastActionUK, a national pressure group formed to inform and
co-ordinate opposition to mobile phone masts. In response to a query, it was
explained that the Action Committee had some objectives that were similar to
the Green Belt Society but other objectives were outside the role of that
Society, hence the separate existence.
Mr Rosenberg said that the
Committee did not wish to exist longer than necessary. He was asked to ensure
that it continued at least until after the Master Plan had been updated.
This Society attended a
BPTS Action Committee meeting on 8 December 2001 where Crown Castle Comms. were
represented by their National Community Relations Manager and S of E CR
Manager. They may have discovered the cause of a throbbing noise
(air-conditioning plant) & a transmitter which may be interfering with car
and TV remote controls etc., and are investigating further.
Another dish applied for
In the week ending 12 Oct
2001, an application has been submitted to Welwyn Hatfield Council for an 18.3m
dish - ref S6/2001/1333/FP. Comments to the Council within 6 weeks
Vatican City Radio
no guilty
Earlier in 2001 newpaper
reports said that Vatican City Radio was being sued by local residents who
alleged that the radio transmissions were causing increased cancer rates around
Rome. In September 2001, Vatican City Radio was cleared of these allegations
DETR planning
guidance on telecommunications -
In July 2000, the DETR
issued a consultation paper on their proposed updating of
Church of England
enquiry into safety of antennas on churches
According to the Sunday
Express newspaper on 5 August 2001, the Church of England may seek bids from
mobile phone operators to place transmitters in more than a quarter of its
16,000 steeples, generating £24 million p.a. for parish funds. A working party
set up by the Church's ruling council expects to recommend selected operators
this autumn to 4,000 churches that have shown interest, provided health and
safety guidelines are met. Hundreds of churches already have antennae in their
steeples. The article said that Crown Castle, a US specialist tower operator,
bought
Brookmans Park
Transmitting Station Action Committee
A Public meeting was held
in the coffee shop at the Dutch Nursery on Monday 30 July 2001. About 100 local
residents attended the first meeting on 14 May. See www.brookmans.com for a survey on whether or not
there should be a continued increase in the number of satellite dishes at this
location. So far, about 60% are agreed that expansion should continue.
Health & Safety
Executive responsibilities
In July we wrote to the
Health and Safety Executive for information and advice on how they control the
amount of radiation from this site. Recent planning appeals have stated that
the
'Thank you for your letter of
19 September, enclosing your letter of 9 July about the transmitting station at
Brookmans Park. I am sorry that you d id not receive a reply to your letter. I
will now try to address the concerns that you raised. In your letter you say
that you are aware of the National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB)
guidelines and the Stewart Report from the Independent Expert Group on Mobile
Phones.
I can understand your
concern about other harmful effects from exposure to radio waves. However the
Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones concluded that on the balance of all
the available evidence, exposures below the NRPB guidelines do not cause
adverse health effects to the general population. It also concluded that there
is no general risk t o the health of people living near to base stations,
because exposures from these sites are expected to be small fractions of the
guidelines.
Nonetheless the report
noted that siting base stations in residential areas can cause considerable
concern and distress and it recommended changes to the planning system. DETR
consulted on such changes and details can be accessed at their website (www.planning.detr.gov.uk)
or from the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions at Eland
House, Bressen d en Place, London SWIE 5DU. Planning applications for the
erection of transmitter masts are decided upon by the local authority, taking into
account environmental and amenity issues. In doing so, there is no requirement
(except where planning permission co m es within a specified consultation
distance from a major hazard site, e.g. specified chemical installation) for
Further information on the
Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones Report should be available from the
Dept. of Health, 80 London Road, Elephant and Castle, London
For advice or measurement
on levels of emissions from any particular site, you can to contact the site owner.
Alternatively you may wish to contact the Radio- communications Agency who are
undertaking a programme of auditing base stations. For further deta ils you are
advised to contact. Mr. G Worsley, DTI, 151 Buckingham Palace Road, London, SWI
W 9SS. (tel. 020 7215 1820) or access the web site: www.radio.gov.uk
I hope that this provides
the information you requested and explains