City Council

Fry just a litte bit more….

By The Basa ⋅ August 16, 2005 ⋅  Email this post ⋅  Print this post ⋅ Post a comment

With mobile phone masts going up all the time, it seems that T-Mobile is getting sloppy in the positioning of them and the people at the council who are supposed to be looking after our interests are simply not.

When the more than 130 complaints against siting the mast less that 200 meters from the school failed. T-Mobile turned up and built the mast 4 meters closer to the school. What will that do to Brunstane nursery and primary school children’s brains? Yep, you’ve got it - Fry just a little bit more.

Well, tomorrow one of the Planning sub-committees are meeting at 10 am to decide whether to do the right thing and ask T-Mobile re-site their mast the 4 meters further away from the children or to side with big business and allow them to openly flaunt the planning regulations and policy at the expense of the citizens of the city.

We informed T-Mobile at the commencement of the works, as the council and committee are both aware and have documented, that the mast and equipment were about to be wrongly sited.

It is not as though it is a secret as the above quote from the protester’s letter states - and it continues below:

Where the committee can really serve their constituents is in relation to Brunstane School that is only 180 meters away. The Stewart Report states, “It is best to apply the precautionary approach.�

The children of the city will determine the city’s future. This sub-committee has it today within its power to move this mast another 3 ½ meters from the children of Brunstane school and it should grasp that power. Moreover, let us not forget, that is what agreed previously.

West Lothian’s Councillor Lawrence Fitzpatrick said, “A cautionary approach is very important�, very recently on the same matter. Do the primary and nursery school children in Brunstane School, Edinburgh deserve less than the high school in West Lothian?

I couldn’t have put it better myself - it is worth mentioning here that the Stewart Report, which the council says it adheres to, says that anything up to 200 meters is well… erm….. a bid dodgy next to schools. The 15 members of the sub-committee have it with their powers to help the children of Brunstane School. The school’s local councillor Maureen “three houses” Child is one of them. Let’s see if they vote with the children or big business. The Head of Planning, Alan Henderson is asking the sub-committee to vote with T-Moble and leave the mast where it is.

Will it be Roll of Honour or Hall of Shame, EdinburghSucks!com will be attending the meeting with the protesters to report back.

Trevor Davies (Labour) Post: Convener
Lawrence Marshall (Labour) Post: Vice Convener
Allan Laing (Conservative) Post: Member
Chris Wigglesworth (Labour) Post: Member
George A Hunter (Conservative) Post: Member
Gordon Munro (Labour) Post: Member
Ian Murray (Labour) Post: Member
James A D Lowrie (Liberal Democrat) Post: Member
John A Longstaff (Liberal Democrat) Post: Member
Kenneth Harrold (Labour) Post: Member
Maureen M Child (Labour) Post: Member
Sheila Gilmore (Labour) Post: Member
Susan B Tritton (Liberal Democrat) Post: Member
The Hon David W G Guest (Conservative) Post: Member
Thomas V Ponton (Liberal Democrat) Post: Member

So that councillors know what the mast looks like, a picture with compliments:

UPDATE:
EdinburghSucks!com did in fact turn up at the planning sub-committee meeting last week. There was a slight victory in that the councillors will indeed be visiting the site sometime soon before making the decision on whether to move the mast 4 metres away from the children at Brunstane primary and nursery schools. Surprisingly, local councillor Maureen ‘Three Houses’ Child spoke FOR the objectors and Councillor Ian Murray not only joined her but actually supplied some well deserved history to the debate. Councillor Longstaff called the mast what it actually was - a monstrosity!

The city should not be giving t-Mobile lower than market rent for the site when Jewel & Esk Valley College have said that they would host the mast. Why is the Council giving the multi-national t-Mobile cheap rent with the risk of frying our children’s brains with microwaves?

The Basa

Random Posts you may have missed

• June 27, 2005 -- MSPs’ bar set for £15,000 revamp
• November 8, 2005 -- An ‘absolute nightmare’
• March 11, 2006 -- Politicians do it elsewhere
• June 10, 2005 -- Councillor O’Donnell - answer your phone
• May 4, 2007 -- Fiasco, chaos and the golf club

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