Together Against Masts Newsletters

[Deecan]

TAM NEWSLETTER DECEMBER 2004
{ Tel. [phone] }
International News.


The results of an EU £30 million research study were announced late in December 2004. The cost of this research should be compared with the £7.5 million earmarked for further research by the UK government in 2000, of which half was to be paid by the mobile phone operators. Further, the chosen scientists and the particular research would be selected by both the government and the operators, who would be looking for favourable results from their standpoint. They would also be in control of what was to be published. The scientists would also wish to find the required results in order to obtain continuing funding. These researches can never be completely unbiased and so we should closely question their results. On the other hand the EU studies covered 7 countries and 12 laboratories and the scientists were independent. The whole exercise took around 3 years to complete. The whole report can be found on www.powerwatch.org.uk .
To establish possible adverse health effects from exposure to microwave radiation used in mobile phone technology, the EU scientists beamed microwaves of the same power and frequency as given off by phone masts { ie those currently being used and well below the ICNIRP guidelines, that the Government accept as proving safety} on living cells. Results were alarming, in that they found that the DNA was damaged, some of it permanently. The permanent damage caused mutations, which is what happens when cancer is being formed. Further, and possible more significant, is that this passes on to future generations and so causes mutated offspring. The Government and Operators immediately state that these results do not necessarily mean that the same effects would occur in people exposed to radiation from phones and phone masts would occur. Clearly, they cannot say that such effects would NOT happen, so their insistence on rolling out this technology can only be described as reckless until proper research has shown the system to be safe. All along the official stance has been that there is no proof of danger and so they continue to expose us all to the radiation. Every time any independent research shows that adverse health effects occur, they use standard excuses, such as the scientist was unqualified or got the research wrong or they could not replicate the results. They were unable to do this when an official study sponsored by the Dutch Government, showed that people exposed in the laboratory for short periods suffered nausea and migraines. They could not criticise the study because it was made by a National Government. Their response was that they needed to reproduce the same results in UK laborartories. ANY REASONABLE PERSON WOULD HALT THE USE OF THE PHONE SYSTEM UNTIL THESE TESTS HAD BEEN DONE, as would be the case with a food or a drug. It would appear that the £65 billion received by Westminster in the last 4 years had a greater influence than the safety of the public?.
The German scientist heading the EU study, when interviewed on the BBC , said that their results showed that at the very least immediate and comprehensive studies should be made to demonstrate that the lab results correlated with the real effects on people and animals exposed to radiation from masts and phones. He also said there should be an immediate ban on CHILDREN USING MOBILE PHONES. The head of this EU research also stated in his BBC interview, that in his view, he would NOT expect the effects on people on the outside would be any different from those found in the lab. Further, he said that, in his view, living close to a mast was more dangerous than using a mobile phone itself.
Professor Sir William Stewart, ex Chair of the Stewart Committee, which reported on phones in 2000, and now Head of Research of the Government committee on mobile phone safety, is about to produce a report showing that children particularly, have a propensity to develop a benign tumour close to their brains after using a mobile phone and although benign it’s location can have serious implications because of it’s closeness to the brain. He too is calling for limitation in use of mobile phones by children.
A couple of years ago, Independent World Scientists suggested a safe power for mobile phones. They tested it and found that it worked perfectly, except there was no reception in cars and buildings. Outside there were no problems. China is currently working on such a system, with mini masts on each street corner, but with a system that does not give adverse health effects. Why would they do this if the present system is safe ?
HOW LONG WILL WE TAKE ALL THIS DANGEROUS TECHNOLOGY ?

Local News

3G masts are continuing to be erected apace both locally and all over the UK. The Dutch Study showed this to be even more dangerous than the 2G system. The former, although dangerous, was providing a previously unavailable service with many benefits. The 3G is simply a new method of providing entertainment, with pictures , games and internet access. It is NOT essential and is NOT adding anything to the communication service. Indeed it also has many downsides, such as providing paedophiles with another tool to fulfil their devious practices.
Two mast applications are current in Pendle, one at Walverden and another on Caldervale Rugby Club. Both will be considered by committee on the week commencing 10th January 2005. The latter is the third application for a mast on this site within 16 months. The first two being refused. Amazingly it would appear that the Planning Officers are recommending approval, despite their two earlier refusals. Again the Government are putting pressure on LA s to push these through. Using blackmailing tactics by telling them that they will be charged the cost of appeal { around £20,000 } . We can , however, do some blackmail of our own, by threatening to take them to the Ombudsman for malpractice, who awarded complainants £20.000 each for such maladministration.

[Deecan]

TAM NEWSLETTER JANUARY 2005

East Lancashire News

Currently much activity is occurring in the Pendle area. The Borough Council here is to be congratulated in refusing two mast applications, one at Walverden and the other ( 3rd application on this site } at Caldervale Rugby Club. However, we MUST NOT be complacent, for the phone operators are under great pressure from the Government to roll out their systems to give the 90% coverage required across the UK. This means that they will be forced to look into alternative sites close to these refusal areas with some urgency. As we have been saying for the last 5 years, if you live in an urban area there will be a mast close enough to your home to affect you. As a result of these application for Walverden, we are pleased to welcome further members of TAM from that area. Our total membership now exceeds 4000 people. The local committee there worked tirelessly to oppose this mast and the Nelson Committee of Pendle Borough Council refused it unanimously and appreciated the information given to them by the Walverden Committee.
There is to be a second Private Member’s Bill presented to Parliament and we are delighted to note that Pendle Borough Council are supporting this Bill. They have sent out the following letter of support :- This Council:
concerned at its present inability, through the planning process, to
act in the best interests of local residents in relation to the
proliferation of mobile telephone masts; welcomes the Private Member's Bill recently introduced by AndrewStunell MP to give local Councils greater powers in this regard, and in particular (a) to prohibit any development without planning permission and (b) to allow a local Council to have regard to health issues on aprecautionary basis; and
instructs the Chief Executive to write to the present MP for [Pendle]
to urge him to support this Bill.
This really does show that this Council is doing it’s utmost to protect local resident’s from the dangers of phone mast radiation. We need to try to get the same response from Burnley Council. It is imperitive that we all write to our own MP and express our concerns and ask them to support this Bill, unlike the last Private Member’s Bill proposed by Richard Spring MP, which was passed by 8 votes to 2, but did not become law, because the required minimum of 40 MP’s were not in the House to vote at the time. Most MP’s felt they had better places to be and better things to do than vote. Where was your MP at the time ?
We are arranging to have street meetings in both Burnley and Nelson to inform the public of the dangers and to give them advice as to how to oppose a mast application WHEN one arises close to where they live. Also we will be recruiting new members, we need 10,000 people, for then surely all politicians will realise that they have to support our views, after all we do elect them and a General Election will be held within months. The first

2.
street meeting will be held in Burnley at the Kiosk [ outside Woolworth’s } on Saturday , 5th March 2005, from around 11am to 3pm. PLEASE TURN UP TO SHOW YOUR SUPPORT. A MEETING FOR Nelson will be announced soon.

International News.

There have been two new reports published this month.First a group of Irish Doctors have produced a document , similar to the one produced by German Doctors { The Freiburger Appeal in October 2002 } . The Irish Doctors noticed an increase in cancer in people living close to a phone mast. They concluded that :-
The Irish Doctors' Environmental Association believes that the Irish Government should urgently review the information currently available internationally on the topic of the thermal and non-thermal effects of exposure to electro-magnetic radiation with a view to immediately initiating appropriate research into the adverse health effects of exposure to all forms of non-ionising radiation in this country, and into the forms of treatment available elsewhere. Before the results of this research are available, an epidemiological database should be initiated of individuals suffering from symptoms thought to be related to exposure to non-ionising radiation. Those claiming to be suffering from the effects of exposure to electro-magnetic radiation should have their claims investigated in a sensitive and thorough way, and appropriate treatment provided by the State.
The strictest possible safety regulations should be established for the installation of masts and transmitters, and for the acceptable levels of potential exposure of individuals to electro-magnetic radiation, in line with the standards observed in New Zealand.
The second report comes from Israel, where scientists did epidemiological studies on two areas of the same town, which were very similar as far as the environment, age range, and proportion of males and females. The difference was that one had a phone mast and the other didn’t. The study began one year after the mast was put into operation and lasted for YEAR. They found that there were 4.15 times as many cancers in the area containing the phone mast. It also showed that women were more susceptible than men by quite a large proportion. When compared with the recent EU study { reported in the December Newsletter } , which showed a rapidly increasing effect after 10 years of exposure, the Israeli study is even more alarming when it showed these high results during the second year. They also noted increases continuing at a growing rate in the year following the end of the study, but these were just observations.
JOIN US NOW, DO NOT DELAY, WE NEED THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE TO CONVINCE OUR POLITICIANS. PHONE [phone]. IT IS FREE
IF YOU WISH TO MAKE A DONATION { FUNDS ARE ESSENTIAL TO ALLOW US TO CONTINUE } PHONE THE SAME NUMBER

[Deecan]

In September 2004 an International Conference was held in Bristol under the auspicies of Mast Sanity. I was privileged to chair that meeting.
Many important points were made by the 8 eminent speakers there and below if a resume of the conference.
I apologise for it's length, but urge you to read it. It is too long for one posting and so I will add further posts to give the full account.
MAST SANITY NATIONAL CONFERENCE, BRISTOL
25TH September 2004


The conference was chaired by Dennis Cannon from Burnley a long term and active campaigner from Burnley Lancs.

Dr Ian Dring kicked off the meeting with a stirring and emotional address.

Dr Dring’s brother PC Neil Dring, a very fit man of 38, died in June 04 from a rare cancer. He was convinced that the Tetra handset he had to wear constantly was the cause of his cancer; as soon as he had using TETRA he had constant headaches. Since Tetra handsets were introduced by Leicestershire police, there have been 5 cases of cancer and 1 death.

Dr Dring, a biochemist, stated that research into the safety of Tetra by Porton Down (see Barrie Trower below) is limited and does not stand up to scrutiny. We’d like to send a big thank you to Ian for his support and willingness to stand up in front of us all and go over what is a very difficult time.

Don Maisch - corporate risk assessment of RF Bioeffects Studies Relevant to the Use of Mobile Phones by Children: Is it really science?

Scientific advisor to ACNEM (Australasian College of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine), campaigner and researcher on EMF health risks. Website www.emfacts.com

We grabbed Don off his mini tour of the world and convinced him to come to our conference, and what a great impact he had. We feel it’s the beginning of a brilliant and long term new relationship.

He discussed the fact that brain tumours are on the increase; of brain cancers amongst children -they are the no 1 killer in Australia, even higher than leukemia. There has been an increase of 40% in brain tumours in 20 years, the same period that mobile phones have been used. There is also a general increase in cancers – what is the cause?

In 2004 neurosurgeon Dr Charles Teo wrote that he has seen a 21% increase in brain tumours in children in recent years and is convinced there is a connection with mobile phone use. He recently went on TV to issue a warning on the use of mobiles by children. Tumours are being found just above the ear where the antenna of the mobile sits. Brain scans show inflammation at the antenna feed point, indicating a heating effect.

Laboratory studies on animals suggest that where cancer exists, radio waves may accelerate the growth.

Don believes like many of us that mobile phones are the asbestos of the future.

According to “Teleconomy Data”, there is a huge pressure on young people to own a mobile phone, and many fill their free time texting instead of meeting friends. Don believes texting is not as dangerous as the mobile is held away from the head, but who knows what long-term damage is being done by holding a mobile for long periods in front of the face, particularly if you wear metal glasses.

Motorola are the largest in the mobile phone market. They are now in partnership with Disney, targeting a “market” of 6-12 year olds so that children can download pictures of Mickey Mouse on their phone. Motorola have done their own research, but point only to positive findings, dismissing adverse findings as not having been “independently” replicated and therefore irrelevant. Yet they quote findings which themselves have not been replicated. One researcher Ross Adey wanted to try to replicate adverse findings but Motorola refused further research and took away all his equipment. Adey found damage to the blood-brain barrier, but Motorola omit this finding in their official research findings.

Microwaves heat tissue. There is a high rate of energy absorption i.e. heat, which becomes a hotspot on the head, accumulating over years. No studies have been done on juvenile use of mobiles. The accepted standards do not protect children, and even the NRPB boss has said he is worried about the effects of radiation on children.

Many European bodies incl the British Medical Association have called for limiting children’s use of mobile phones, but this is not being followed up.

Thanks Don for visiting and we hope to see you again in the future.

[Deecan]

Bristol Conference continued :-
page 2
Barrie Trower - Intentional Ignorance

Research physicist, worked on stealth warfare with microwaves and on debriefing spies at Porton Down. Wrote the Tetra report for the Police Federation and one on PC Dring.

Barrie is well known to many of us and it was great for many of us to finally meet him.

From his extensive work with developing microwave weapons during the 1960’s within the Ministry of Defence, Barrie knows there is NO safe level of microwaves, just as there are no safe levels for X-rays.

Porton Down declared Tetra safe and that police officers only feel adverse effects because they have heard that Tetra is dangerous and therefore it is all in the mind. 30 police officers reported illnesses before the report even came out and before they knew of side-effects, so it is not psychosomatic. In the 1960’s Porton Down offered huge incentives to 20,000 personnel to take part in experimental flu vaccinations; these were biological experiments and many now have cancer. Therefore how can you trust Porton Down, and by extension the Government, in their assessment of the safety of Tetra?

So far only California and Sweden recognise electro-sensitivity in people. 3% of a population is considered electro-sensitive, thus 2 million people in the UK, including some children, are electro-sensitive. The Children’s Act states that there is a legal obligation to protect children from a perceived risk, but this is not followed up. You are also not allowed to discriminate against disabled people, which would include electro-sensitive people. In Austria masts have been switched off because of the “perceived” risk that the ill-effects experienced by people are due to the mast.

Landowners should be made aware of potential compensation claims in the future whether for illness or the devaluation of property near a mast (in Europe compensation claims are being won). If this is done before a mast application is approved, it could make landowners wary of allowing an application to go ahead. There seems to be no one else who can be held responsible at this stage.

At the time of his resignation former Environment Minister Michael Meacher wrote that universities obtain grants if they give the results the government want. No scientist is allowed to question who funds research (eg phone companies) otherwise they risk having their funding taken away (Barrie couldn’t get funding, even at his own university). MPs have complained in the Commons of the potential effects on children, but everything is whitewashed, any adverse research dismissed by the government (“not replicated”).

Porton Down conducted 3 experiments in time spans of 10 minute, 20 minute, and again 20 minute exposures and declared Tetra safe. But exposures need to be measured over 5 to 10 years!

Our safety levels are based on heat but long-term low-level radiation may be causing many illnesses. The eminent Professor Goldsmith (former WHO Europe with 11 professorships) is also very critical of safety levels based solely on heat.

Microwaves are the perfect stealth weapon to use against dissident groups as it is known at Porton Down that they cause illnesses, and pulsing causes the same illnesses to occur more quickly. Doses are accumulative and are more dangerous than a short high dose. Microwaves have been used against dissident groups such as Roman Catholic groups in N. Ireland and Greenham Common protesters.


Dr John Walker Physicist (ex-Dunlop research in wave theory).

John came down from Birmingham to discuss his very interesting cluster diagrams using specialist software to produce maps showing where ill-health clusters appear in relation to mast emission levels, using data from Powerwatch and SCRAM (Sutton Coldfield Residents Against Masts).

There are hugely varying exposure guidelines throughout the world and bear no relation to safety limits. The UK (with USA and Canada) have the highest guideline limit, Salzburg the lowest; this is a ratio 10 to 1 in volts/metre and 100 to 1 in power units. Guidelines in the UK were generated by the Stewart committee, because they did not understand safety limits.

Santini published research in France in 2002 on 530 people living at different distances from masts. Complaints ranging from sleep disruption, headaches, dizziness to depression were mainly made by those who lived up to 200 m from masts, with more complaints the nearer they were to the mast.

Dutch studies in 2002 tested 72 people under exposure to 1800 mHz, 900 mHz, G3 and a placebo. G3 gave worse scores and some people were more sensitive to signals. The disease of electro-sensitivity is not yet well known in the UK but is accepted in Sweden. Spanish studies in 2003 (Navarro and others) on masts up for 2 years also show that around 1 volt/metre gives rise to increased illness. This is a figure of 1/50th of the volt/metre ICNIRP guidelines!

Dr Walker’s emission maps showed that the longer a mast is up, the higher the number of cancers. All illnesses are in the lobes, not outside. Rising ground means more illnesses as the emissions hit the ground sooner so more dangerous.

Dr Walker only has data on 4 older masts, where there is agreement between radiation patches and illness patches, but more examples are needed. Where there are masts, a questionnaire on illnesses should be given out within a 250 m radius of the mast; the aerial direction noted, and all this can be sent to Dr Walker at SCRAM to chart.

Excerpts from his report:
“Despite some mobile phone operators and people like Sir Colin Blakemore [ex Stewart committee, Chairman of the Medical Council] repeatedly giving out misleading information that mast emissions are “continuous rather than pulsed”, GSM base stations do emit a complex pulsed microwave signal. This has now been defined by Simon Mann of the NRPB (Dec 02) for the Dept of Health’s MTHR research programme … that clearly shows all the pulsing we have claimed for the past 5 years”.

Who is responsible for ill-effects? Only the landowner? People affected by a mast should ask the landowner for a copy of their indemnity insurance for illness and loss of property values; they may face legal claims in the future into millions of £s. But like asbestos, in future all parties involved could be held to be jointly responsible i.e. all operators on the site and landowner. People should begin asking this question, bring it into the media.

Dr Walker’s conclusions:
1) UK has substantially the highest electromagnetic field guidelines in the world (51 volts/metre).
2) The French, Dutch and Spanish studies show that reversible illnesses occur at around 1 volt/metre. This means that the 51 volts guideline used in the UK is approx 50 times the 1 volt/metre which causes reversible illnesses.
3) He has found 2 illness clusters showing similar characteristics when Telstra simulated electromagnetic fields are superimposed on the geographic illness distribution within 250 m of masts. Between the transmission side lobes of the mast there is very little illness, however in the lobe area there is much illness ... This leads to the view that the voltages to give reversible illness are not much different than those to cause, much harder to reverse, illnesses after about 7 years. This means that less electromagnetic field is safer for health and fields that have frequencies near brain frequencies (Tetra) are worse and fields that have many sharp wavefronts are also worse (G3).

[Deecan]

Bristol Conference page 3 :-
Dr Grahame Blackwell

More info on www.starweave.com

Grahame as usual gave a stirring and imaginative overview of the situation.

He believes like many of us that we don’t need more research – there is an ample amount worldwide but which “disappears into a black hole” because it is routinely dismissed by operators and the Government. Peer reviews are not accepted by the Government, yet there are NO peer reviews done on any studies on Tetra saying it is safe!

Grahame gave a very interesting discussion on the use of language by Govt bodies and industry to mislead the public. Phrases like “on balance”, “the weight of evidence” are used to say masts are safe, but “balance” means 50% either way, and legally “on balance” and “the weight of evidence” only have to mean 51% safe!

Dr. Blackwell dissected sentences in Stewart Report (paragraph on avoidance of 16kh written by Colin Blakemore.) Tests on TETRA since 1970s re calcium reflux – 4 results showed no effects but 6 did show effects!!! But Blakemore said there were “no obvious effects.” Blakemore is now at the Medical Research Council - Scary

At the Swansea and Gower appeal, Dr. Blackwell said it was obvious that “big guns” had been brought in to help the planning inspector. Statements were made about “not enough data to assess the issue,” and results being “much disputed” etc.

Stewart at the recent (Sept 2004) Childhood Leukaemia Conference said “evidence of health effects at lower levels remain equivocal” (this means “of equal voice”). Stewart expressed concerns that this could “affect child development.” Stewart said a follow-up to his 2000 Report was due at the end of the year which made it clear that he does NOT regard the Swerdlow Report published early 2004 as the “follow-up,” which is the way it’s often described.

Chris Maile, Campaign for Planning Sanity

Chris as usual gave a stirring and imaginative presentation into the planning legislation and more specifically the use of local legislation to restrict the placing of masts.

Recent changes we should be aware of:
Councils have an individual Local Plan and Supplementary Planning Guidance and planning decisions have to be made in accordance with these. Exclusion zones for masts eg near schools are not allowed by the govt, but local councils can in effect include one eg “no mast should be erected near a school”. These decisions will have the status of law.

Points new in the coming 2004 version of the Compulsory Purchase Act:
- it outlaws a second application by the same operator within 2 years if the first application was refused
- an enforcement notice can be used immediately to stop a mast erection, even before checking if a mast erection is lawful
- section 56 gives an opportunity to correct the planning decision of an inspector after the decision has been given, avoiding a JR, if the inspector has got points wrong
- grants will be given by the Secretary of State to fund legal advice eg organisations like Mast Sanity that give free legal advice should be able to get a grant to cover this free advice; local groups should be able to ask for a grant to cover expense of giving others legal advice
- Para 16 covers compensation for a mast going up; you have to wait a year to put in a claim at the Lands Tribunal; the threat could force operators to consider moving a site rather than pay compensation
- Para covers the enjoyment of one’s property: once a mast is erected (not after it begins operating) you have 3 months to make a complaint; the operator has 2 months to respond; you then have 2 months in which to go to the County Court

An Appeal Court judgment has stated that the resident can decide when the building of a mast has finished, not the operator.

Alastair Wallace

Partner in Public Law Solicitors, Birmingham. Represented Gatley and Chorleywood campaigns, now representing Chris Nunn at Bardsey (56 day case).

Alastair is one of the leading solicitors supporting and representing local mast campaigners at the moment. We are grateful for the time he spent in coming down to Bristol to explain the ins and outs of the processes that mast campaigners can use to challenge inappropriate masts.
He went through the steps of Judicial Review, the only way to appeal a planning decision. You have to challenge a point at the time eg on alternative sites, otherwise you can’t appeal a decision on this ground.

An appeal must be made promptly, not within 3 months (guideline time limit only), since the operator could start putting up the mast. The deadline for appealing an inspector is only 6 weeks.

Funding for a JR is limited: takes place in London, no witnesses, just barristers so of limited expense. Third parties can join in but as they are seen to duplicate arguments no costs would normally be made.

Re perceived heath risks: protesters need letters to prove ill-effects, doctors’ certificates, expert papers. Protesters need far more information on both perceived risks and alternative sites to give them ammunition for appeals. It is a good idea to carefully unpick the recommendations of the planning officer.

He discussed the Bardsey case:
Operator filed a prior approval application where after 56 days permission is automatic. In the Nunn case Leeds Council refused permission on the 57th day. Leeds tried to bring enforcement action to prevent the mast going up, and T-Mobile appealed.

Chris Nunn has been denied her human rights under Article 6 of the Human Rights Act as she can do nothing about the matter; she and others are being disenfranchised by this decision and have no control over it. Nunn wants a declaration of incompatibility with Article 6. The Court of Appeal has stated that they want to hear it, indicating the importance they attach to it.

They are looking into a pre-emptive costs order whereby costs are not made if you lose, but they must be of public interest and you must have an interest in it yourself as well (ie can’t bring an appeal because you object to something in another town). David Wolfe is representing Chris Nunn, and is trying to get a pre-emptive costs order made in another case.

Mr. Wallace also described the difficulty of getting funding. He said the government seem to want to replace public funding with insurance but he’s only found two companies that are interested. The premiums can be much too high eg 40% in the case of Bardsey where T-Mobile assessed their costs at £150,000.

Yasmin Skelt closed the meeting with a stirring presentation on behalf of Mast Sanity.

Such a great success though turn out was good we hope to see many more of you at the next one in October 2005.

[Deecan]

TAM NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY 2005

East Lancashire News
We have to report that the operator has decided to appeal the decision by Pendle Borough Council to refuse the application for the third phone mast at Caldervale Rugby Club. We urge everyone to write to tha Planning Inspectorate at 3/02 Kite Way, Temple Quay House, 2 The Square, Temple Quay, Bristol, BS1 6PN. All letters have to be sent in triplicate otherwise they will not be considered. To add to this, the same operator has applied for a further mast { making 4 applications in total}. Some people will be surprised at this, but it is likely that they believe that they will get approval for this, having attempted to frighten the Council with the threat of becoming liable for appeal costs { around £20,000 }. This would mean that they would probably drop the appeal and get a mast installed much earlier, as the current process time for appeals is around a year.
A further sinister development has arisen in that a base station is to be installed on the building of an old mill close to the White Bear pub in Barrowford. They will use the “Permitted Development “loophole to install this and this require no planning consent and no need for any public consultation or notification. Readers will recall that the ability to use Permitted development and prior approval procedures to allow phone operators to erect base stations, without public health concerns to be considered, is permitted in England and Wales, but not in Scotland. More will be said about this in the ensuing section under National News.
We held out first public street meeting in Burnley Town Centre on Saturday, 5th March and , although it was a cold day, the general public showed great interest and we were successful in signing up more members to TAM. Our particular thanks go out to Michelle Simmons for all the work she did in organising this meeting. Here we also publicised our service to visit people’s homes with our meters to establish the degree and location of microwave radiation and to advise them on possible safeguards that could be employed.
Together Against Masts have made some progress in producing their own website, thanks to the sterling efforts of Gary Bird , who provides his own CAD services.
National News.
The most urgent news concerns the Private Member’s Bill from Andrew Stunell MP. This will have it’s second reading in Parliament on 18th March 2005. The Bill is very similar to the one that was presented recently by Richard Spring MP, which was passed by 10 votes to 2. However, it failed to become law, because there were not the statutory 40 MP’s in the House at the time. It is vital that this does not happen on the 18th March and so we urge everyone to write to their local MP urging him/her to attend at the appropriate time and hopefully to support it. It can be pointed out that a full list of MP’s present and the way they vote will be published on the Starweave website. The Bill does following :-
2.
Scraps Prior Approval & Prior Notification, all applications would require full planning consent.
Required a health statement along stringent lines and the PP to be submitted.
Requires a certificate setting out the extent and location of the BGI
Negates the Compulsory Purchase powers in respect of medical and education.
Requires Operators to pay the legal and other expenses of a greater number of provisions in the Code where people are challenging under these.
Allows Medical and Educational facilities to apply to a County Court to have masts removed from their premises.
Sets out more stringent PP than is now in place.
Scraps Network Rail rights to put up telecoms installations without planning permission.
Scraps Part 25 rights making those full planning { that is all installations by non-system operators, such as private security companies operating TETRA and so on.
Many people ask “What can we do about it ?” Well here is one thing that we should all do! WRITE TO YOUR MP NOW.
National Membership is pour next aim. This is not just a local issue, there are thousands of Campaign Groups, similar to TAM, fighting against the injustice of siting masts close to schools, hospitals and residences. You can read the same storied online by searching for Phone Masts and see exactly the same stories, highlighting problems that are repeated over and over. So it is a case of “Divide and Conquer” as the Government and the Operator take on small, often ill informed, local groups and bully their way to achieve their objectives. There are also quite a few National Organisations, such as Mast Sanity, with whom we are affiliated, together with eminent UK scientists who are brave enough to challenge the heavily spun propaganda pushed out by the Government. Inferring safety by simply refuting any evidence that shows adverse health effects, even the very recent £ 10 million EU study that showed DNA damage and mutations to living cells exposed to this radiation, simply by saying more research is needed. This does NOT stop them in their relentless roll out of masts. Where is the precautionary approach called for by Prof. Sir William Stewart, Head of the NRPB and ex Chair of the Government’s Safety Committee in 2000. ?
WE BELIEVE THAT A LARGE NATIONAL MEMBERSHIP WOULD FORCE THE POLITICIANS TO HALT THIS DANGEROUS PROGRAMME UNTIL RESEARCH PROVES IT TO BE SAFE.
STOP PRESS Prof. Olle Johansson, appointed by the Swedish Government spoke to the Scottish Executive in his expert capacity. He called for them to suspend all masts and launch an investigation into the long term health effects. HE SAID MILLIONS OF LIVES ARE BEING PUT AT RISK

[Mitch]

TAM Newsletter July 2005
(note the very interesting news stories from residents who have simply had enough of being railroaded on this issue, and have pulled this murderous monstrosities down themselves!!)

Thanks Dennis for sending this in, will be cracking on with the skull and crossbones tonight!


Dennis Cannon has decided to stand down as Chair of TAM. He reached this decision after holding the post for over 5 and a half years. In his view, TAM needs a new impetus and new ideas in order to build on the considerable success achieved since it’s inception in 2000. Ideally we need someone with imagination and flair to take over the helm and to lead us into a new phase and to meet the new challenges arising daily. If such a person is not immediately forthcoming, we must continue by sharing the load between us in some way that will keep our organisation alive until the right person comes along. PLEASE ask yourself what YOU can do to help. Give serious thought to how we can continue and be effective in our aims.

Reports are coming in daily of new research showing serious adverse effects from exposure to microwaves emitted from mobile phones and their associated masts. Also many stories from the countless groups, like ours, that are fighting to stop masts going in their local area. Some report successes and others show failures and frustration at the unfair guidelines inflicted upon local planners. These guidelines make it ever more difficult for local democracy to have any effect and even where they are brave enough to refuse permission, there is nearly always the Appeals process, where more often than not , a Planning Inspector overturns the local decision and allows the mast to be erected anyway. Nevertheless we must keep fighting and make these politicians accountable for their decisions.

Here are some of the latest stories -

1. Phone giant ‘will not replace mast’
Sutton Coldfield Observer news paper 22 July, 2005
By John Newton News Reporter

Telecommunications titan T-Mobile has given a written guarantee that it will not replace an illegally-felled mobile phone mast in Wishaw.

Sutton MP Andrew Mitchell secured the promise.
Wishaw has been the most controversial mast hotspot locally, with an antenna in the area leading to the formation of SCRAM – Seriously Concerned Residents Against Masts – a protest group borne out of allegations that communications equipment was responsible for a cluster of nearby cancer cases.

The mast was eventually brought down overnight by unidentified vandals.

Mr Mitchell first contacted T-Mobile in March this year following residents’ concerns that the operator was going to site a new mast in the contentious area, with Bulls Lane named as the spot.

Some residents had planned to pay for private security to keep out expected engineers.

“This is great news,” said Mr Mitchell, my constituents were particularly concerned about the proposals for the Bulls Lane site and I had been pressing T-Mobile to take their views and concerns into consideration. “After persistent pressure we have now received a guarantee that T-Mobile has no intention of progressing any development at the site.”

Local resident and founder of SCRAM Eileen O’Connor added: “I am thrilled at this news. “This guarantee lifts a real weight of our minds. “We were devastated by the thought of a new mast in Bulls Lane. “ We do feel that the threat of a new mobile phone mast in our community will always exist until we own the land at Fairview Farm in Bulls Lane and this is something that we are working towards.”

John Shaughnessy, T-Mobile’s community affairs manager, explained: “T-Mobile as no intention of progressing any development at the site at Bulls Lane. We have no further interest in that location with regard to network coverage. “Neither do we have an interest with regard to the land itself.”

For more information about SCRAM go to www.scram.uk.com
Also visit www.radiationresearch.org

2. W-A-R-T
Wednesbury Action for the Removal of Telephone masts.
www.w-a-r-t.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk

TURN YOUR SOUND ON!
How shocking, how awful, how naughty.
It seams we have some bad bad people who have pulled down a temporary mast
at Stone Cross , West Bromwich overnight.
It could be on the local ATV news tonight.

We are sooooooo upset at w-a-r-t that we have had to have several large G & T's to calm us down.

3. Vorwort zur Broschüre
Dokumentierte Gesundheitschäden unter dem Einfluss Hochfrequenter elektromagnetischer Felder (Mobilfunkanlagen, DECT, WLAN, u.a.)
Foreword to the Brochure
Documented Health Damage under the Influence of High Frequency Electromagnetic Fields {Mobile Phone Base Stations, DECT, WLAN and others].
Supplied by Dr C Waldmann-Selsam, Dr U. Säeger, Bamberg, Germany, Date 26-April-2005

These reports show that the people for years have been ill due to pulsed high frequency electromagnetic fields, without the treating doctors recognising the cause. For that reason, people who are receiving the high frequency at home or at work have suffered and are suffering and they receive no therapy. The deciding [effective] therapy is to end the exposure.

The continually repeated assertion in the media by the Radiological Protection Commission (Strahlenschutzkommission), that there is no proof for health risks under the present valid limits, has had the consequence that most doctors, (including myself until a year ago) have not drawn a relationship between the many unexplained illness patterns and high frequency radiation. The doctors do not know that at not one single mobile phone base station have investigations into the health-state of the people been carried out. Thus, the evaluation of the Strahlenschutzkommission in 2001 has no scientific basis.

In Oberfranken, we have just evaluated the medical complaints of 356 people who have had long-term [radiation] exposure in their homes.

 The pulsed high frequency electro magnetic fields (from mobile phone base stations, from cable-less DECT telephones, amongst others), led to a new, previously unknown pattern of illnesses with a characteristic symptom complex.

 People suffer from one, several or many of the following symptoms:
Sleep disturbances, tiredness, disturbance in concentration, forgetfulness, problem with finding words, depressive mood, ear noises, sudden loss of hearing, hearing loss, giddiness, nose bleeds, visual disturbances, frequent infections, sinusitis, joint and limb pains, nerve and soft tissue pains, feeling of numbness, heart rhythm disturbances, increased blood pressure episodes, hormonal disturbances, night-time sweats, nausea.

 Even at 10μW/m2 (only 0.06 V/m average) many people are becoming ill.

 The symptoms occur in temporal and spatial relationship to exposure.
It is no way only a subjective sensitivity disturbance. Disturbances of rhythm, hearing problems, sudden deafness, hearing loss, loss of vision, increased blood pressure, hormonal disturbances, concentration impairments, and others can be proved using scientific objective measures.

 Some of the health disturbance disappears immediately the exposure ceases (removal of DECT telephone, temporary moving away from home, permanently moving away, using shielding).

Therefore, the expansion must be stopped immediately. Mobile phone base stations, in whose fields people are exposed to more than 10μW/m2 must be turned off.

DECT telephones must be changed.

Affected people, relatives and doctors must jointly commit themselves and work together with all their energy [to this end].

Evaluation of symptoms of 356 people under long time home exposure to high frequency pulsed electromagnetic fields (DECT,telephones, mobile phone base stations) versus the level of the power flux density in microwatts per square metre.


Here is a letter sent to the German rime Minister following this Bamburger Report.:-

Open letter to Edmund Stoiber, Prime Minister, Germany
Dr Edmund Stoiber
State Chancelry
PO Box 220011
80535 Munich
Urgent suspicions of serious health damage from pulsed high frequency electromagnetic fields (mobile phone base stations, DECT phones, W-LAN, Bluetooth etc.) at levels below exposure guidelines.
Dear Prime Minister,
Allow me to represent many doctors personally to you.
For eight months doctors in Oberfranken and another places have been making extremely worrying observations of patients, who live in the vicinity of mobile phone base stations. After initial suspicions at locations in Forchheim, Hirschaid, Walsdorf, Memmelsdorf and Bamberg survey measurements were made of 356 such residents in 40 locations, all in Oberfranken. Meanwhile 64 Hofer doctors, 30 Lichtenfelser, 61 Coburger, 20 from Bayreuth and countrywide, added their names to the Bamberger appeal.
The result all these medical findings is as follows.
Many people have become ill with a characteristic combination of symptoms, which is new to us as doctors, at exposure levels far below the guideline limits, which apply only to thermal effects. Residents in the vicinity of masts have one or more of the following symptoms:
Sleep disturbance, tiredness, headache, restlessness, lethargy, irritability, inability to concentrate, forgetfulness, trouble finding words, depressive tendency, noises in the ears, impaired hearing, dizziness, nosebleeds, visual disturbances, frequent infections, sinusitis, joint and muscle pains, feeling deaf, palpitations, increased blood pressure, hormone disturbances, gaining weight, hair loss, nocturnal sweating, nausea.
The following statements strengthened our suspicions:
• Frequently, many residents become sick with these symptoms at the same time, when living near a base station
(e.g. Schweinfurt: Eselshöhe, in Kulmbach: Senioren-Wohnanlage Mainpark, in Hof: Kösseinestraße, in Forchheim: Ortsteil Burk).
• Many patients have reported rapid recovery when removed from exposure (by temporary relocation, removal of the source, screening, disconnection).
• After relocation, doctors have proven during re-examination of the patients, among other things, that blood pressure, heart rhythm, hormone disturbances, visual disturbances, neurological symptoms, and blood profile have returned to normal.
• Many doctors’ families have in the course of the last months removed their DECT phones and were thereafter free among other things from headache, concentration disturbances, dizziness, restlessness, tinnitus, and sleep disturbance.
We therefore requested the responsible authorities (Federal Office for Radiation Protection, Federal Ministry for the Environment, Conservation and Nuclear Safety, members of the Radiation Protection Commission and the WHO) to organise local health surveys. Despite the serious, medical concern, all the authorities have refused to investigate the (to some degree) intolerable living conditions of those living locally.
Not one official health survey has been made at any base station in Germany! The SSK and the BfS have thus no level of knowledge concerning the long-term effects on resident living in the vicinity. From a medical viewpoint is this unacceptable.
I therefore turn to you to request your assistance for our patients who have no other recourse. We doctors from Oberfranken are ready to help. We urge you to immediately arrange local health surveys among people in the vicinity of base stations, at locations in Bavaria. Our concern is not that there are 'unfortunate individual cases', but that there is a medical disaster spreading to all parts of the population! To investigate our concerns, it must also be possible to switch transmitters off. From a medical viewpoint, we are seeing an emergency situation, which requires rapid action by all political means.
I implore you to take action to avoid health damage among many children, young people and adults.
Faithfully
Dr. Cornelia Waldmann Selsam
Karl-May-Str.48
96049 Bamberg
Tel:[phone] Fax:[phone]
Mail:peter.selsam@t online.de