Pebsham phone mast plan sparks fury

Cllr Clark is dismayed at Rother planning committee and its decision to allow the Orange tree mast to be built at Pebsham Farm despite concerns expressed by nearby residents.

He said residents were worried about the possible health implications from siting a mast near homes and close to recreational facilities such as Pebsham Riding School.

Orange say the mast is necessary to improve mobile phone coverage in Pebsham and the farm is the only suitable site. They wanted to disguise the mast inside a fake dead tree but planners have asked them to reconsider their design based on a Cypress Tree.

Cllr Clark said: "There are real concerns on health grounds regarding emissions from these masts. Orange insist the Pebsham site is the only site suitable for the signal they require. I find that hard to believe.

"It is also within the boundary of the proposed Pebsham Countryside Park.

"There has been a petition and overwhelming objections by local residents to this application. Why have they been ignored?"

Petitioner Gill Craig, of Pebsham Farmhouses, who has campaigned against the mast, added: "Would any of the planners or councillors who passed this application have done so if it were on their own doorstep?

"Two years ago massive objections raised to a similar mast in the same location resulted in the application being withdrawn. What has changed since that time?

"We are extremely annoyed and would now ask for the council's guarantee that there is no health risk whatsoever to residents living in such close proximity to a cellular phone mast."

Rother planners say it is not necessary for them to consider health effects or concerns about them as long as the transmission equipment meets government guidelines for public exposure.

They add the site has been designed so that no member of the public can be expected to be exposed to electromagnetic radiation in excess of the guidelines.