Neighbours have objected to plans for a 5G mast on a grassy area regularly used by children playing on their way home from school.
But the mobile phone firm Three said that the mast was needed as more people worked from home placing extra demand on networks in the suburbs and on housing estates.
Three has applied to put up a 60ft (18m) mast on a triangle of green space at the junction of Loder Road and Balfour Road, in Brighton.
The plans include six antennas, a “wraparound” cabinet base, two equipment cabinets and an electrical cabinet.
Three notified neighbours about the application in the name of an associated company CK Hutchison Networks on Friday (16 December).
By today (Tuesday 20 December), more than 50 objectors had written to Brighton and Hove City Council.
Three and its agent Clarke Telecom included guides to 5G technology with the planning application as well as information about electromagnetic field (EMF) safety.
Two letters from a former minister at the former Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Matt Warman, advised councils to make planning decisions quickly and said that there was “no credible evidence” of health concerns.
Mr Warman’s letter said: “We know that some constituents have expressed concerns about the potential harmful effects on human health of 5G.
“Public Health England (PHE), the government’s independent advisers on matters of public health, is clear that there is no credible evidence of a negative impact of mobile technology, including 5G, on people’s health.
“Central to PHE’s advice are the guidelines published by the International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP), which is formally recognised by the World Health Organisation.”
Three’s application said: “The proposed new mast has been sited and designed in order to provide 5G coverage and to fill the hole in coverage for this mobile network.
“At present, it is paramount that digital connectivity is supported and maintained throughout the country.
“In particular, the current massive shift in user demand from city centres and places of work to residential areas and suburbs requires an improvement in coverage and capacity throughout the whole network.”
Some objectors have raised health concerns while others want to save the small green space.
One, whose details were redacted by the council on its website, said: “The proposed area is used regularly by children to play and sit on, meet friends and family.
“Avoiding further street clutter and associated visual impact detriment to the public realm should be a major consideration and not industrialise a residential area.
“What guarantees are provided that no long-term damage will occur to a beautiful tree in a small green site where little else like this exists? It’s not a grass verge. It’s a small green space in a city and should be protected.”
Two letters supporting the application both welcomed the prospect of improved mobile signals, with one writer, whose details were also redacted by the council, saying: “Our world is very much a digital world now.
“In this residential area around Balfour Road, a large number of people work from home and need reliable connections for work purposes (as well as leisure, of course).
“Infrastructure like telecommunications antennas underpin all of our digital activities and investments like this will benefit many people in the area, helping support the lives we now live.”
To see the plans and comment, go to the planning portal on the council’s website and search for BH2022/03760.
Three’s rationale does not seem to hold water?
Especially if, as is very likely, 4G mobile service is already good in the area – if not from 3 (but it probably is?) then almost certainly from providers using the three other main networks?
And as to “working from home”?
By definition almost everyone working from their own premises prefers the quality and speed of a fixed landline connection, surely?
In that context, and given the relative affluence of the area, cable TV was probably laid down in most streets decades ago, which was then updated to provide the fastest data available to households!
And nowadays high-speed gigabit full fibre-to-the-door is probably available now in the area, or very soon will be?
And whilst our Councillors generally seem to cut the ‘Free Market’ a lot of slack this looks to be a situation where City Councillors need to put the interests of society, to enjoy a peaceful non-industrialised green space, above the commercial interests of a Hong Kong entity seeking to compete with firms providing a cabled service, known to be safe because optical-fibre cable does not radiate RF radio-frequency emissions (albeit,some large connection cabinets might emit a small amount of
EMF/RF energy, especially where they include a mobile transmitter for remote configuration and fault-reporting etc).
As far as they can our Councillors do really need to be aware of the ever-increasing volume of RF pollution of our environment – not just from mobiles, but from Wi-Fi, radar signals, defence equipment, and more!
For centuries the pollution of rivers was tolerated, but now we know better! And whilst wireless transmission looks to be a technical marvel, with enormous commercial and political pressure to ignore any hindrance from thoughtful objectors, it cannot be much longer, surely, before public-spirited researchers prove to us that our heavily-polluted
airwaves are at least as much of a hazard as filthy rivers (‘open sewers’) were found to be?
What this article doesn’t mention is the 18m mast and metal boxes are less than 80 meters from Balfour Primary School and 750 pupils. There are two Secondary schools with 3,000+ pupils 500m away
As long as EMF levels from the masts in the schools, and at ground level, are within WHO defined safety limits what does it matter?
Are you just worried about 5g or is it all mobile phone transmissions?
Isn’t it possible that these nearby school-age children are heavy users of mobiles, and would be the ones to make most use of an improved service?