HEALTH CONCERNS AND SITING OF TELECOMMUNICATION MASTS

Motion Text

That this House recognises the expansion of the telecommunications industry; considers that technological change is outpacing the current regulatory planning framework; further notes that the precautionary approach to decision-making adopted in the Maastricht Treaty was ratified more recently than recent telecommunications legislation or the last full DETR revision of planning policy guidance; acknowledges the growing concerns of a number of local communities on aesthetic and public health grounds, which include concern over possible links to short-term memory loss, and other illness from the siting of masts on sites and buildings which include school premises; notes the views expressed in the Irish Government's conference in Dublin on 6th March 1999; is mindful of further EU and WHO research not due to be reported until the next century; calls for a more precautionary approach to the siting of masts and for further research into low-energy electromagnetic fields; and calls on the DTI and DETR to investigate and take account of these concerns and to consider further what environmental action and guidance to local planning authorities is needed.