Atawhai

Titahi Bay in Porirua is the latest community to rise up in protest at Telecom’s expansion of its 3G cellphone network.

Residents are rallying tonight, complaining that Telecom and their local council have run roughshod over their rights by building a tall tower right in the middle of their main street.

Local resident Vicky Webb has two children under three and does her best to keep them from exposure to microwaves and radiation. She bought her Titahi Bay home because it does not have any overhead wires.

"We don’t use cordless phones, we don’t have wireless broadband, or a microwave and then Telecom just come along and dumps a tower right outside our house," Ms Webb says.

Ms Webb received a letter on the first of August from Telecom, informing her that the 12 metre high tower would be erected. However, she and her family were away on holiday and by the time she got back, construction of the 3G cell phone tower had begun.

After strong opposition, Telecom delayed the construction of the Titahi Bay tower and today held a public meeting which residents marched to in protest.

"We understand that people have to have cellphones," Ms Webb says. "But when the exposure levels drop off so quickly within 400 metres, why slap a tower in the middle of a community with children on every side?"

Telecom says it would not get the same coverage if it was too far away from houses.

"There are always plenty of other places, but they would be a different location probably with other houses close by," Telecom’s Mark Ratcliffe says. "It just happens that this was a good Telecom site."

Telecom has a thousand cellphone towers nationwide which are being upgraded to 3G. It is erecting 300 others like the one planned for Titahi Bay.

Telecom will decide in the next few weeks if it will go ahead building the tower at this location. If Telecom decides to do so, there will be nothing residents can do to stop it.

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