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View Full Version : Judge "thinks" 3G mast could be harmful



3g-g
7th June 2005, 01:40 AM
Well, this is of no help to anyone. Will someone make a decision! One week we're OK, the next people are getting scared again. The only good thing about the decision made is that the residents have to prove convincingly, the masts are of adverse effect health and well being. Good luck doing that. Ahh! Where'd that second head come from?! :rolleyes:


A judge of the court of Almelo (The Netherlands) has rejected the demands of Vodafone Libertel, a provider of mobile telephone services. The judge said it is not beyond doubt that the radiation of a planned 3G-mast does not affect the well-being and health of people living and working in the vicinity. A standard procedure should give the answer.

The municipality of Haaksbergen gave a permit on Nov. 2, 2004 to Vodafone Libertel to build a 37,5 metre mast for mobile telephone antennas. But people living and working in the area raised strong objections. The local council decided, no masts were allowed in the vicinity of homes, until the uncertainty about the health effects is taken away. Therefore, on April 26, 2005 the municipality withdrew the permit. On May 9 Vodafone asked the judge to suspend this withdrawal. The judge decided on May 24.

The consideration of the municipality was, that the well-being and health interests of the people living and working in the vicinity is more important than the wish of Vodafone to cover the area by 3G-technology. Their legal adviser Paul Baakman called upon the precautionary principle, given by article 174 of the European Treaty. This principle has been agreed at the conference of Rio in 1992, concerning the environment. "Electro-smog is a problem of health and environment", said Baakman. Vodafone however stated, that 3G-antennas do not have noticeable negative effects on the health of these people, according to jurisprudence. The provider says the withdrawal of the permit is insufficiently motivated.

The judge said the suspension of the withdrawal could not be the same as the revival of the permit. To revive the permit would be a bridge too far, since it is not certain and beyond doubt that the withdrawal would not stand in a standard procedure. Moreover the consequences could be irreversible. The withdrawal can be questioned, but a standard procedure should give the answer.

There is no appeal to this verdict. Vodafone has to wait for the standard procedure. In the meantime the people living and working in the vicinity of the planned 3G-mast, the local council and the municipality of Haaksbergen have to develop convincing proof of the harmfulness of the radiation to their well-being, health and environment.

The original article is here. (http://mathaba.net/x.htm?http://mathaba.net/0_index.shtml?x=234446)

timothythetim
7th June 2005, 01:48 AM
Oh well that clears up the whole phones and health debate doesn't it?
(/SARCASM)

Ben
7th June 2005, 01:54 AM
"the local council and the municipality of Haaksbergen have to develop convincing proof of the harmfulness of the radiation to their well-being, health and environment"

Good luck to them! I doubt they'll be able to come up with much given the research that has already taken place! Some people are just on another planet.

I can sympathise when people reject a mast because it's outright garish (networks have a responsibility not to contstruct ugly monstrosities), especially as camoflauged solutions are out there, but to reject the mast on health grounds is crazy. The world has to go on - the mast should be set live and removed later if actual evidence is found. Nothing is completely safe!