Communication to residents
Re PROPOSED BASE STATION INSTALLATION UPGRADE AT PADDOCK FARM, TAYLORS LANE, BUCKDEN, CAMBRIDGESHIRE, PE19 5UP.
The Parish Council have received notification that Cornerstone and Telefónica are proposing to upgrade the existing installation at this location. This is in advance of formal consultation from HDC which we anticipate will happen shortly.
The upgrade is to the existing base station telecommunications apparatus which comprises a 15.0m High R & T Swann Monopole Tower on a concrete base and associated ancillary works. It is part of Telefónica’s network improvement program, to provide improved technical provisions, greater capacity and better coverage in the area. There will be little visible change to the mast or base.
At this stage the Council have made the following observations:
- The proposal appears to be confined to the existing site for a base station installation.
- The location is away from the majority of the population of the Parish, sitting to the west of the A1, village centre and most housing;
- We anticipate that the properties closest to the proposed installation with be contacted directly by HDC when the application is submitted, and we will take into consideration at that time of any comments they may wish to make to us or to HDC;
- When the application is sent to us for a formal recommendation, we will again advise residents of their right to comment;
- Our Planning Committee will take account of impact on neighbours of the application, as a material planning consideration;
- We anticipate that technical issues will be assessed by HDC or their advisers;
- We further anticipate that perceived or potential health issues will be assessed by HDC Environmental Health Officers, whose recommendations will be available to us when considering the application.
We are aware that there may be concerns amongst residents and have undertaken some research into the common concerns associated with Telephone masts which are typically about cancer and radiation. Short extracts from several sources are included below.
Statement from Telefónica
All Telefónica installations are designed to be fully compliant with the public exposure guidelines established by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP). These guidelines have the support of UK Government, the European Union and they also have the formal backing of the World Health Organisation.
Cancer Research UK
4G or 5G networks rely on radio waves to work just like older mobile phone networks. The difference with 4G or 5G networks is that they use higher frequency waves than older mobile networks, but they still don’t have enough energy to damage DNA to cause cancer.
Public Health England
Radiofrequency fields at ground level and in places normally accessible to the public are many times below guideline levels. Where guidelines can be exceeded, normally within a few metres directly in front of the most powerful antennas, exclusion zones are implemented to restrict access. Ofcom, the communications regulator, has carried out measurements around base stations that consistently show the amount of radiation is well below the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection’s (ICNIRP) limits, regardless of how much time you spend there. Dr Simon Mann, Head of Public Health England’s Radiation Dosimetry Department said: “Measurements of exposure levels have been made independently of the network operators at thousands of locations in the UK near to base stations and these have always been well within the [international guideline] levels. There is no convincing scientific evidence that radio signals from mobile phone masts pose a risk to public health when they are below [these] levels. There’s no evidence to suggest 5G is dangerous.”
More information is available on our web site. www.buckdenpc.org.uk