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Friday, September 23, 2005
Stunned by decision to retain phone mast
By: Jennifer Long
RESIDENTS of Ferrybank have vowed that while they’ve lost the battle they will eventually win out in the war against a local garage owner and the telecommunications industry over the location of mobile phone masts in their community.
For the second time in recent months, An Bord Pleanála has given the ‘thumbs up’ for a mobile phone mast at the site of Walsh’s Car Sales on the Belmont Road in a decision which has caused shock, anger and disappointment in the Ferrybank locality.
“We’re stunned,” Paul Malone, chairman of the Ard Daire Residents’ Association declared to the Waterford News & Star yesterday (Tuesday). “There’s a huge amount of disappointment in this area because while An Bord Pleanála claim otherwise, the fact remains that these masts are situated far too close to homes and to schools.
The welfare of people has simply been brushed aside.” “Having said that we firmly believe that all is not lost. We may not have won the battle against these masts but we’ll do out best to win out the war, no matter how long it takes.”
In April, there was consternation in Ferrybank when An Bord Pleanála granted permission for an ESAT BT phone mast on the Walsh’s site despite the health concerns of locals. At a public meeting attended by 150 residents, outrage was expressed over the fact that the higher planning authority had gone ahead and granted permission after Hutchinson 3G Ireland, acting for ESAT, had appealed a decision by Kilkenny Co. Council to refuse it.
However, there was also shock and indignation over an apparent contradiction by the local authority. Because while they’d refused this mast permission, only weeks before they’d given the ‘green light’ for the retention of an existing mast on the same site which locals say had been operating without permission for up to three years.
The decision was taken to appeal this grant to the Dublin-based authority and this was later lodged in the names of Don, Eileen and Clayton Landy of the Belmont Road.
Yesterday, Eileen Landy said she was “hugely disappointed” that permission was now in place for two masts especially in a large residential area where planning permission has also just been granted for up to 600 new houses. “In the Inspector’s Report there was a lot of talk about government policy on rolling-out mobile phone masts and it seems the board agree with these policies, regardless of the health of people,” she said.
“They also dismissed claimed there was enough distance between the mast and the houses, schools and crèche. Anybody who knows this area will find this amazing. Only recently the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications said phone masts should not be located near schools or houses which this decision completely goes against.”
Rick Metcalf, chairman of the Ferrybank Residents Action Group, said the mood in the community was naturally one of shock and disbelief but this was by no means the end of the matter.
“We will have another public meeting as soon as possible now,” he said yesterday. “If we have to we’ll picket Paddy Walsh’s garage and shop because it seem the only option now is to try and persuade those directly involved.”
“An Bord Pleanála are supposed to be a neutral and independent body but the report of their Inspector smacks of Government spin which says little for democracy.” “We will fight this completely because the site in question is no place for a mast of any description.”
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