Residents urge tower review

MARION VAN DIJK/Nelson Mail

TOWER OF OPPOSITION: Members of the public gather to protest outside the Atawhai Playcentre before the Telecom open day.

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Residents who organised to block the proposed 22m cellphone mast in Atawhai have called for a review of national standards of telecommunications equipment, after grilling Telecom staff at a public meeting Tuesday.

They wanted Tuesday's protest, which attracted about 100 people, to kick-start a national discussion on the safety, standards and placement of telecommunications equipment in New Zealand.

Atawhai parent and Nelson lawyer Sue Grey said while much of the rest of the world tightened emission standards and was increasingly concerned about "electronic smog", New Zealand was proposing to adopt "industry-led" national environmental standards which would enable transmitters which comply with "very lax standards" to be built anywhere in New Zealand.

Telecom last week revealed nine new cellphone structures were planned for Nelson and Richmond as the company sought to develop a new mobile phone network. The company then said in a surprise announcement it was delaying the project as part of a national re-prioritisation of where to build the new network. It said it would use the time to find an alternative site for the tower it had planned to build next to Atawhai Playcentre.

Telecom community relations manager Paul Leslie told the Nelson Mail Tuesday the company was now hoping for a rational debate, and the community's involvement was needed in the search for an alternative site in Atawhai.

Green Party MP Sue Kedgley, who lent her support to the protest and came to Nelson especially for Tuesday's public gathering, said afterwards she hoped the stance taken here would inspire other communities throughout the country to do the same.

Mr Leslie said Telecom planned to build up to 300 new structures around the country to support the new mobile phone network. He said despite the level of opposition shown in Nelson, the company often received more heated responses from people unable to get network coverage.

Ms Kedgley said she was thrilled that the Nelson community was fighting the cause, which she termed a "broader fight" for the need to put the health of children ahead of profit.

She said despite Telecom's view that cellphone towers were harmless to people's health, there was an "indisputable, significant body of research" that countered this, and advised people to take a "precautionary approach".

Mr Leslie said it was not new technology, and cellphone towers did not emit radiation, but radio frequency emissions that did not cause molecular changes in humans.

"It's simply wrong to confuse this with nuclear energy."

He was now hoping the community and the city council would help to find a solution.

Nelson Deputy Mayor Rachel Reese reassured the Atawhai community it would be heard, and the council would advocate on its behalf.

Cr Ali Boswijk said the council was keen to work with Telecom, but it was difficult to convince parents that a 22m cellphone tower beside their playcentre would not harm their children.

- © Fairfax NZ News