Luton & Wayfield Ward Leaflet

LWAutumnA4

Our latest ward leaflet in Luton & Wayfield for Autumn/Winter includes:

• Work on Wayfield Phone masts
• Working with St Mary''s Amateur Boxing Club
• Working with residents on Thorold Road to clear alleywat
• Working on pot holes and anti-social behaviour
• Parking ticket champions

For more information on other campaigns please visit the Luton & Wayfield ward blog.

Labour: Working for our communities.

Burma Way Phone Mast Update

Phone mast application passed the Conservative-dominated Planning Committee

You win some you loose some, but am extremely angry that the phone mast application for Burma Way passed through Planning Committee last week.

No one wants a phone mast in their back garden and we all have to accept that if we are to modernise our telecommunications infrastructure that we need new and better masts. There is also no evidence to suggest that these masts cause cancer.

When this mast application was submitted the community spoke with one voice to oppose the mast. We even suggested alternate sites would be better keeping for such a structure.

This mast remains utterly out of keeping with the surrounding land and residents had made it clear that other more industrial / commercial locations would be better suited. Not only that local schools, MPs and Councillors had communicated in no uncertain terms that the mast was utterly unwanted.

We were all snubbed.

We have at present agents running roughshod over local public opinion. Our Conservative-Council had made it clear that phone masts would be considered very closely and in this case they made the wrong judgement.

Please find below our letter to residents on the news:



Burma Way Phone Mast

Half mast Agents need to get a grip

It is becoming increasingly apparent to residents that we are currently witnessing a glut of phone mast applications across the Medway Towns.

Whilst we all accept that we do need to prepare for 4G and the increasing use of Wi-Fi enabled technology, it baffles belief that we continue to have applications for masts seemingly made by agents with little / no understanding of the area in which they are applying.

I have written to the agents who represent the phone companies, in support of the MP, who has also flagged concerns that the applications need to be better considered - not only in terms of the land they are placed on - but also to stop wasting the time of residents who remain concerned about the potential health risks.

Agents need to act with care on the placement of phone masts. Picking more suitable locations would not only speed up the erection of new masts but also lead to happier communities as well. Just food for thought.

I have suggested to the phone companies that instead of 'randomly' picking residential areas that they focus applications in industrial units.

Medway has a number of varied land types even in the most residential of areas, and such applications are likely to receive significantly less objections.

Wayfield Phone Mast

This blogger is extremely pleased to announce that the application for a phone mast in Wayfield has been rejected after a concerted campaign by residents, Councillors and our representatives in Parliament.

The full result of the application can be found here

The campaign to oppose the mast was led by a number of residents who felt, and rightly so, that the mast was an unwanted development in a residential area with large numbers of families with young children.

It is hoped that the phone mast company will accept the outcome and not appeal the judgement. The mast is not wanted in this area.

We all accept however that phone masts are necessary if the UK is to develop capability for 4G. We only ask that phone companies place these masts in areas which minimise impacts, perceived or otherwise, to residents and are in keeping with the area they are placed.

Medway Council have undertaken a lot of work on phone masts in the area which was a focus for scrutiny several years ago. The results of this scrutiny exercise, which has helped shape policy, can be found here.

A significant victory for the community none the less

Nailing colours to the mast

It is of particular interest that Tories have been criticising the position of this blogger, and fellow Labour candidates in Luton & Wayfield who are backing the community against the mast.

Tories attacking independent petitioners and those that support them should be careful.

Careful because Tories have very short memories of course - similar to the Medway Freedom Pass and Free Swimming - which they scrapped and opposed only now to be sudden converts to the policy.

Labour in Luton & Wayfield is opposed to the phone mast because of a total lack of consultation and out of concern that the community has been ignored.

Our response to a total lack of action is to base our response on the Rainham Conservatives, who supported an independent campaign to stop a phone mast in Railway Street.

If elected as candidates we will therefore:

1.Request that the Chief Executive of Medway Council writes to the applicant urging them to reconsider, for the safety of the community and nearby families with children, their decision to place a mast in Wayfield and to request a meeting with them and representatives from Medway Council to discuss the matter, with a view of having this phone mast application withdrawn

2.To seek the support of the Member of Parliament for Chatham & Aylesford, Tracey Crouch and asks that she table an early day motion to restrict the location of mobile phone masts in the vicinity of schools and densely populated residential areas.

3.To write to the government expressing the view that planning decisions are best left in the hands of local authorities who have a wide understanding of their area and not to planning inspectors who have scant knowledge of local circumstances.

4.To call on the Chairman of the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee to put forward a member’s item looking into the possible health implications associated with phone masts.

A Tory rejection of the above will be surprising given it is Tory Policy which received full support in 2009.

Residents in Wayfield should and are concerned because whilst this policy appears to have been adopted for a phone mast with a Tory PPC in Rainham it is being ignored in Luton & Wayfield.

Perhaps a few of those Conservatives moaning about my position should take note; its based on your own!

No Phone Mast in Wayfield

Labour candidates Tristan Osborne, Sam Craven and Christine Godwin are backing the independent campaign in Wayfield to oppose the phone mast proposed for the Links which has once again returned to haunt residents.

Despite the issue being raised in early 2011 it is clear the Conservative Council is still pressing ahead with the development.

Labour is backing the campaign by concerned residents in Barnfield who have been canvassing the local community over the last four days.

The campaign organisers have requested that the campaign remains independent from any of the candidates in the election, but if elected we have indicated we will give them our full support and indeed organise meetings with the phone mast company and Council if required.

Major questions remain.

How come the Conservative Council is pressing ahead with the idea despite months of local objections?

Are they really listening to residents?

Other areas in Gillingham have recently had success in removing a phone mast so community action can work

We urge readers of this top 100 Politics home blog to sign the independent petition.