People power forces 5G U-turn

Council turned blind eye to potential harm in landmark case

- by STEVEN THOMAS

I HAVE been involved in a legal battle for the past two years with Cheltenham Borough Council over planning permission for a 15 metre tall 5G mast being approved in the town’s conservation area.

The mast would have been erected just 17 metres away from the nearest residential buildings, with the top of the mast being at the same level as some homes.

The Mobile Broadband Network Limited (MBNL) compliance manual we have obtained shows that this is well within the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) public exclusion zone.

This is the region around a mast where it is deemed unsafe for the public to enter. Typically, this is 50 metres and requires a nine metre vertical clearance.

There were some 50 objections, mostly from people who lived close by. I had also objected on the basis of the proximity to Lefroy Court retirement home, quoting the ICNIRP guidelines which explicitly state that people who wear medical devices or implants can be affected by frequencies lower than the threshold limits.

The council failed to take this into account in its decision-making process, deciding that ‘prior approval was not required’ despite the fact that all new ground-based masts require prior approval by the government.

Cheltenham Borough Council rubber-stamped approval, completely ignoring all the valid objections and evidence put forward by residents, including one objector from Lefroy Court retirement home who has a pacemaker.

I took the council to judicial review on the basis that it had failed to assess material planning considerations in its decision-making process, relying instead on an ICNIRP certificate which was defective, issued in the name of a nonexistent company.