MOVE IT, PLEASE:
Elimar Drive residents are pleading
for Manukau City Council and 2degrees mobile
to move this cell site from their neighbourhood.
Would Pakuranga councillors like a cellsite outside their house?
The answer is no.
Dick Quax says he would not be concerned about health issues.
"I'm satisfied in my own mind that there are no health issues involved.
"I guess it all depends how far away it is. If it was right outside my property I probably wouldn't be happy. If it was 50 metres away it wouldn't bother me."
David Collings says: "I'd be furious. Absolutely furious.
"It's one of the reasons I'm against these because I wouldn't want one outside my house.
"As far as I'm concerned if I wouldn't want one outside my house I can't support them being outside anyone's house - otherwise I'm a bloody hypocrite."
Elimar Drive residents didn't have a say when a 14.3-metre mast and two 1.8 by 2.4-metre cabinets appeared in their street.
They want telecommunications company 2degrees to move them to the nearby Farm Cove shops clocktower alongside Vodafone and Telecom equipment.
Resident Nigel Edwards says the whole process of installing the site in March "stinks".
"As I've publicly said, I smell a rat. How on earth can someone put up a tower in Elimar Drive, when the documents show Glenmore Rd, then they give you a document late at night and start work the next morning.
"I've never seen a resource consent granted and work start within 48 hours in the working week. It just stinks."
Consent was granted under delegated authority on Thursday, March 5, without approval from affected property owners.
Mr Edwards was notified of the work on Sunday, March 8, and work started the following morning.
He says Manukau City Council manager resource consents and compliance Brett O'Shaughnessy signed off the consent knowing the clocktower was an option.
"The mayor came and sat in my living room. He said it was horrible, ugly and the noise is terrible."
In an email to Mr Edwards on July 7, 2degrees site acquisition manager Jason Britten says they've reviewed the area and could get similar coverage by extending the Telecom clock tower and going above them.
Alternatively "there is a possibility that a site could work in the green area at the end of Caithness Place".
Mr Britten also says they confirmed the total cost of relocation to Manukau City Council at the council's request.
But 2degrees spokeswoman Bryony Hilless said last week they won't be moving it.
"Essentially it's there. I can understand that perhaps residents aren't happy but we went through all the proper processes, worked with council and this is where it was decided to go."
Mr Edwards says he was told by 2degrees that it would cost $150,000 to move because they can't use the parts anywhere else.
"But I'm sure they can use it somewhere. And I'm sure residents would help move it."
Lightning struck the road outside Atawhai Four Square this morning, giving residents and Coca Cola delivery men a huge scare.
Resident David Greer said he was watching the breakfast news sipping a cup of coffee when he looked out the window and saw a "big mother" ball of lightning he estimated was 20 metres wide hit the road.
The former cray fisherman was used to seeing forked lightning strikes at sea but had never seen anything of this magnitude. "The heavens just opened up. It was like a great big white rod of light."
He said it was a "freaky" experience being that close to the lightning strike. Schoolchildren had been in the area 15 minutes before, waiting for the school bus.
"They went and, boom, it was just like God had missed from heaven," he said.
I just want to add, thanks God that the mast was not there , it could have been a nice target for the Lightning just behind our kids waiting for the bus ....
MANUKAU City councillors have opted to rethink their position on eight new cellphone mast sites in the face of vehement public health concerns and tricky legal implications.
The council?s policy and activities committee on Tuesday voted not to make any decisions about the new network licences telecommunications company 2degrees is currently applying for.
Instead the issues will be discussed again at the full council meeting on July 30, which will follow a forum on July 23 at which the councillors will be provided with more information.
With the exception of Botany-Clevedon councillor Maggie Burrill, the full council was represented at the committee meeting ? the same people who will debate the issue again on July 30.
But the deferral was agreed on after some councillors protested they were being presented with new information from a forum on July 9 and time was needed to digest it.
About 150 East Manukau residents overflowed from the council meeting room brandishing signs with a simple message, ?no cell towers?.
A number of parents and children from Cockle Bay School, which is close to a new proposed site outside the entrance to Paparoa Park, were among them.
Most of the people at the meeting, Mayor Len Brown said, were concerned about the towers? potential health impact.
?What I want, and the people want, is as much comfort as we can get ? a sense of minimum public impact.?
Papatoetoe councillor Bob Wichman, of Dannemora, said the issue was one of individual conscience.
?We are faced with a predicament here ? the possibility of a health problem, whether it is psychological or stress risk.
?We could spend the rest of the time getting opinions on whether the towers are safe or unsafe. Not everyone who smokes dies of cancer, yet we have anti-smoking laws.
?We have to make a conscience point about how we feel about these things and whether we would park one outside someone?s house.?
PRESSURE for reform of the law which allows cellphone masts and cabinets to be installed in residential areas without consent is mounting in the wake of a public meeting which attracted about 300 people.
At the crux of the resolutions passed at the Pakuranga meeting at the weekend was the demand no cellphone equipment be placed near schools, play centres, homes and marae.
The resolutions made at the meeting ask that:
Exemptions for EMR (electro-magnetic radiation) equipment be removed.
EMR transmitters be prohibited within 400 metres of schools, play centres, houses and marae.
The national environmental standards (NES) governing cellphone masts be urgently reviewed.
The New Zealand Advisory Committee should have more community representation.
In a message from the meeting to Manukau City councillors, Keith Ingram, deputy chairman of the Half Moon Bay Residents Association, said the community had identified enough open spaces suitable for cellphone towers. The Government's support to allow the equipment to be placed in reserves and parks would be needed.
"We note many of our parks already have tall floodlight masts, so the addition of a cell tower would not add greatly to existing visual pollution."
Councillors attending the meeting were Sharon Stewart (Howick) and David Collings (Pakuranga), who are spearheading Community Spirit - Howick, Pakuranga and Botany Ratepayers and Residents.
Manurewa councillor Colleen Brown also attended.
Three of the alternative sites proposed by 2degrees include a mast and cabinet outside 145 Clovelly Road, Bucklands Beach, where Tina and Rowan Hegley live.
After the meeting they emailed councillors and 2degrees saying they were "furious" that the five children in their household would be exposed to the radiation emitted from the proposed mast.
They have plans for a building consent with the council to extend the front of their house, which will bring the children's bedrooms closer to the mast.
"This is unacceptable, along with possible health implications for ourselves and five children," they said. "We have one child who is sick. To have the possibility of more is not what we need in our life."
Under the watchful eyes of a packed public gallery Manukau city councillors deferred a decision to locate eight new cell-sites.
A forum will be held behind closed doors next Thursday and the item will come back to a full council meeting on July 30 at 5pm.
Howick councillor Sharon Stewart says many people are relieved to know they won?t wake up with a cell-site outside their home just yet.
"I know 2degrees mobile network has been going around spraying blue paint on proposed sites such as Pigeon Mountain Rd," she says.
"So I think they thought it was going to go through."
She says many councillors didn?t bother to show up to hear presentations on the issue at a forum earlier this month.
"They didn?t know what was going on," she says.
"We should be doing everything in our power to put them in places that don?t affect people?s property values and limit the possibility of any health issues."
Half Moon Bay Ratepayers and Residents Association deputy chairman Keith Ingram was among the packed gallery.
But he was "astounded" to see councillors "duck for cover and seek excuses to defer making a decision".
"We are not against cellphones and yes we recognise their value to the community. All the community is asking for is no cell towers in residential areas.
"We all need to lobby all councillors and inform them of our concerns and offer solutions. Give them alternatives that they can argue with the telcos. Cost or the cheapest option should not be the driving force."
The decision comes on the back of a public meeting last Sunday attended by more than 300 concerned residents.
Elimar Drive resident Nigel Edwards chaired the meeting and has been directly affected by a cell-site outside his property.
"Basically the surrounding 30 property prices have dropped by 15 to 20 percent. It?s not only the value of the property but you also cut down the number of people who even look at it," he says.
SEVEN alternative sites for cellphone masts and cabinets owned by 2degrees will be debated by Manukau City Council?s policy and activities committee meeting tomorrow.
Since asking the telco to reconsider sites put to the council last May, 2degrees has come up with alternatives, three of which remain close to residential properties and are the subject of continuing objections by residents.
Sites to be considered by the committee are at:
? Botany East, outside 106 Botany Road. The location is permitted under the national environmental standards (NES) and replaces the proposal for 104 Botany Road. It?s next to a proposed retirement village and commercial area, and 30 metres from the nearest residential property.
? Cockle Bay, adjacent to 1 Litten Road. Resource consent is required for this site, which replaces the corner of Lastel Place and Sandspit Roads. It?s adjacent to Paparoa Park and commercial shops, and is located 50m from Cockle Bay School?s boundary and 37m from a residential building. Residents at 14 Litten Road, which is next to the park, have submitted petitions of protest to the council.
? Eastern Beach, outside 145 Clovelly Road. This site is permitted under the NES and is adjacent to a residential area.
? Flat Bush, corner Dawson Road and Te Irirangi Drive. This location is permitted under the NES and replaces 6 Belinda Avenue and 104b Boundary Road. The site is outside a commercial area on a main arterial route.
? Half Moon Bay, 25 Pigeon Mountain Road. The site is permitted under the NES, replaces 54 Prince Regent Drive and is adjacent to a residential area.
? Howick North, outside 7 Picton Street. Resource consent is required and this site replaces 16 Ridge Road. It?s located adjacent to a council car park. However it is 30m from Howick Baptist Church?s kindergarten, which is objecting to the location because of the perceived health risks created by cellphone masts.
? Shamrock Park, outside 739 Chapel Road. Resource consent is needed and this location replaces 2 Santa Ana Drive. This site is next to commercial shops and on a main arterial route.
In their report to the committee, council officers say the three sites by residential areas have been reviewed. But they are satisfied that a residential location is necessary to obtain the cellphone coverage required.
In these instances, they say, 2degrees has chosen sites which mitigate the impact on adjacent properties.
The council, say the officers, can choose to withhold landowner consent for the sites, but consideration must be made on whether the decision is consistent with the NES.
? Members of the public can attend the meeting and should contact their councillor if they want an opinion submitted on their behalf. It starts at 5pm at the Civic Centre, Wiri Station Road, Manukau City. The telco issue is item 14 on the agenda.
by Andrew Goldsworthy BSc PhD
Lecturer in Biology (retired)
Imperial College London
I was an amateur radio enthusiast before becoming a professional biologist, but kept my interest in radio throughout a long career as a lecturer at Imperial College London. No one appreciatesmore than I the wonders of engineering that have gone into even the cheapest cell phone, but equally I know the very real dangers that cell phone signals present to both the user and people living near cell towers.
Howick and Pakuranga Times
CITY councillor Sharon Stewart has been busy ?every minute she can? pacing the pavement collecting signatures for a petition against new cellphone towers.
You can?t stop progress, we know that,? she says.
?All we?re saying is we don?t want them near schools, pre-schools or in residential areas.
?There must another place where these things can go up.?
Her mission started on June 22 at Highland Park and has moved into other local areas. She has collected more than 400 signatures in the first few days.
She?s not alone. Campaign supporters are collecting signatures in other areas such as Cockle Bay, but word is spreading further afield.
?I?ve had people from Wellington, Oamaru and Manurewa who are all starting their own groups and petitions,? says the Howick councillor.
She says each group will fall under the Community Spirit 2009 umbrella, but will be organised and headed by the ratepayers and residents association from those areas.
Community Spirit ? Howick, Pakuranga and Botany Ratepayers and Residents is an initiative spearheaded by Mrs Stewart and Pakuranga councillor David Collings.
Mrs Stewart told the Times Colleen Brown, the councillor for Manurewa, has taken on the Community Spirit 2009?s initiative in her own neighbourhood.
?Everyone I?ve spoken to is supportive and thrilled we?re protesting this,? says Mrs Stewart. ?There must be better places to put these towers to get coverage. Whether it?s Pigeon Mountain Reserve or Musick Point, I don?t know.
?But it?s got be better than right outside someone?s property.?
The Community Spirit 2009 petition states:
? Prevent the construction of cellphone sites and cabinets and EMR (electro-magnetic radiation) equipment adjacent to residential homes, pre-schools, schools and retirement villages and health centres.
? Prohibit cellphone towers and similar transmission devices from being built within 500 metres of educational facilities.
? Legislate to require community consultation and notified consent prior to the erection of cellphone towers and similar transmission devices in residential areas.
Mrs Stewart reiterates that the issue is not just isolated to Howick, Pakuranga or Botany, ?it?s a national problem?.
People can visit Highland Park Fast Photos or Howick Village Butchery to sign the Community Spirit 2009 petition.
A THIRD proposed site for one cellphone mast is running into opposition by angry residents who fear for their health.
Fiona Jeffcoat-Yu and her husband Daniel Yu, of Cockle Bay, are furious to discover that a site deemed suitable because it is by the entrance to Paparoa Park will be just 34 metres from their bedroom.
They are now disputing telco 2degrees? claim the house will be 37m from the mast.
The mast plan ran into initial trouble when 2degrees selected a site on the corner of Lastel Place and Sandspit Road.
Valerie and Derek Richardson, who live in the house on the corner, protested when they found the mast would be attached to a street-light pole about 10m from their children?s bedrooms.
After Manukau City Council put the pressure on 2degrees to revise its eight sites, local councillors Jami-Lee Ross (Howick) and Dick Quax (Pakuranga) got on the job with the telco to look for alternative locations.
The mast was shifted from near the Richardsons? residence to a site just metres away from Cockle Bay Primary School?s classrooms.
Teachers, parents and grandparents rallied in opposition and the site was again shifted, this time to the entrance of Paparoa Park.
Mr Ross said the site was suitable because it was designated as a road reserve and a priority was for antennae to be as far away from residential properties as possible.
Mrs Jeffcoat-Yu says her parents noticed people in orange vests looking over the fence of her and her husband?s house at 14 Litten Road on June 23.
After the Times published details of the new site on June 25, the penny dropped that their house boundary adjoining Paparoa Park would be 12m away from the mast.
After complaining to Mr Ross they had not been consulted, they were contacted by the telco the following Friday night and received plans on June 27.
?We didn?t realise the problem had crossed the road,? Mrs Jeffcoat-Yu says.
Maximum electro-magnetic radiation levels about 28m from 2degrees cell sites are measured, in a National Radiation Laboratory report, as slightly more than the exposure one metre from two microwave ovens when the ovens are in use.
?That?s the equivalent of two microwave ovens one metre from our bed running 24/7,? she says. ?Apparently that?s acceptable.?
?They don?t seem to understand we are not standing in front of those ovens, we?re permanently living in the area.
?Our personal concern is the potential long-term damage on us, our son and future children. We?re also concerned about the school, foot traffic along the path and the sports field.?
A meeting with 2degrees representatives on June 30 yielded agreement to consider the family?s health concerns which would be registered as part of the consultation process.
Mrs Jeffcoat-Yu says they have 13 days to make their case before the council meets to approve 2degrees alternative sites.
They have started a mail drop to residents and are getting signatures on two petitions, one for adults and one for students which they hope to present to Mayor Len Brown.
?Students are deeply concerned,? she says. ?We shouldn?t ignore the views of children and the impact on them.?
The site at Paparoa Park was selected in line with Manukau City?s request that, where possible, masts be placed outside parks or commercial properties, says Howick councillor Jami-Lee Ross.
Jami-lee Ross?It?s important to note 14 Litten Road is 35m away from the site,? he says.
?If the mast had remained outside 66 Sandspit Road it would have been 7m from the Richardsons? house.
?There are already six cellphone antennae over the shops opposite, which are also 35m away from the Litten Road property. There is some planting between the house and the proposed mast site ? so they do not have a direct outlook on to the mast.?
Hard peer-reviewed facts about health risks, he says, are available from the World Health Organisation, the Ministry of Health and the National Radiation Laboratory.
The council has to make decisions based on the scientific consensus that exposure to the electro-magnetic fields around cellphone masts does not pose a risk.
?Our job is to find sites with as little impact on the residents as possible.
?I have tried my best to find a site in that area but I?m struggling to find another one with less impact.
?If someone knows of suitable sites away from residential properties and schools, please point them out.?
The council, he says, has opened the door to the telco companies by agreeing to mast sites on road reserves outside parks.
It recognises people are in houses a lot of the time, while people use parks more infrequently.
Of the eight original 2degrees sites in East Manukau, the council has been successful in having seven of them moved away from residential properties.
A SECOND public meeting will be held this weekend as part of a campaign to stop cellphone masts and cabinets being placed outside residential properties, schools, kindergartens, daycare centres and other places where children get together.
GREEN MP: Sue Kedgley.Community Spirit ? Howick, Pakuranga and Botany Ratepayers and Residents, spearheaded by local councillors Sharon Stewart and David Collings, has organised the meeting in Pakuranga College Hall for Sunday at 5pm.
Among the guest speakers will be Nelson environmental lawyer Sue Grey and Green MP Sue Kedgley, who addressed a previous public meeting which was held in Pakuranga last month.
Ms Kedgley describes plans to site a mast in Sandspit Road, which has now moved to Litten Road, as ?outrageous?.
A mast proposed for the entrance to Paparoa Park opposite the Litten Road shops is 70 metres from Cockle Bay School classrooms and 200m from Howick College, affected resident Fiona Jeffcoat-Yu told the Times.
?This proposed antenna will be number 10, bringing the total number of panels up to 14 in a 300m stretch of road that includes two schools with 2541 students and 208 staff,? she says.
Mrs Grey says the telcos? biggest dread is that someone will take a challenge to court with a competent lawyer and an expert who understands all the issues and get the standards changed.
?We?ll do that in Nelson if Tele-com insists on proceeding on the Atawhai Playcentre site.?
Mrs Stewart says Sunday?s meeting may be the last opportunity for people to have their say because Manukau City Council will vote on antennae and cabinet sites in East Auckland on July 14.
Surfdale residents Stephanie Honeychurch, Dr Stuart Reuben, Andrew Crawford and children Archie and Maddie
The Waiheke Community Board is being urged to help get consultation over cell phone towers in the light of protests elsewhere as health concerns grow. The renewed plea comes from resident Andrew Crawford following a resource consent application lodged last year for a cell phone tower on the Surfdale Bowling Club. The application sparked concerns among more than 400 residents. Neighbours have since asked telecommunications companies planning to erect towers on the island to consult with residents and to give written guarantees that people's health will not be harmed by electro-magnetic emissions. But Vodafone, Telecom and New Zealand Communications' representatives said "no" to the guarantees at a Community Forum meeting in April. They told the meeting their installations fully complied with the national standard and said if change was required it was up to government to make the decision. Telecom's Paul Leslie added safety issues were a matter for public health authorities. "We're saying the responsibility lies with public health authorities. It's our responsibility to comply and to design our sites with a minimum level of radio frequency emissions," he said. Surfdale protestors, though, claim the national emissions' standard has been set too high and that health experts around the world have been issuing warnings over long-term health effects. The claim is echoed by protest groups around the country calling for more consultation and the need to notify resource consent applications so communities can have a say. They have the backing of Green MP Sue Kedgley, who spoke to a public meeting in Pakuranga last week. She said the growth of cell towers throughout New Zealand had been partly sparked by the introduction of a new law and the passing of the National Environmental Standard by the last government. Kedgley claimed the standard had been drawn up by the telcos and was one of the most permissive in the world. She said it had been based on the false assumption that electro-magnetic radiation (EMR) could only cause acute effects and not long-term ones. "Our government's approach is to assume that EMR is safe until such time as conclusive evidence of harm is proven. It is exactly the opposite of a precautionary approach," she said. And she cited a 17-nation World Health Organisation study on cell phone tower safety, due for release five years ago, saying results had been held up because a link had been found between cell phones and the risk of tumours. "If cell phones - which officials have insisted are safe - turn out to increase our risk of cancer, what about cell towers, cabinets, WIFI dishes and all the rest?" Both the Surfdale group and another in South Island's Nelson are pressing for the chance to make submissions to the Local Government and Environment Committee about their concerns. Meanwhile, a protest group in Titahi Bay (near Wellington) is celebrating a co-operative approach that saw Telecom cancel plans to build a tower close to residents' homes. It will now be erected elsewhere. Andrew Crawford told the Waiheke Community Board last week he was keen to see the same thing happen on the island.
Board chairman Tony Sears said he would liaise with representatives and Crawford over the progress of tower notification.
Cell phone health claims
British charity Electro-Sensitivity UK says a recent conference included presentations that claimed:
A 500% increase in brain tumours for young people using a mobile phone more than 10 years.
A 500% increase in cancers for people living within 400 metres of a mobile phone mast.
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