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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To not want a mobile mast 20 metres from my house....

121 replies

bookbird · 07/02/2012 15:33

....and to feel frustrated that no-one else seems to care?

Mast would be 20 metres from DS's bedroom window and 50 metres from his school playground. He'll never escape from it.

Also frustrated at the "no proven health risks to mobile masts" line that the planning consultant sent me. Yeah, but health risks aren't disproven either and I'd rather not play the lottery with my DCs health thanks very much.

I suppose this is really NIMBYish but I'm really worried about our proximity to it.

OP posts:
shopinstore · 07/02/2012 17:31

OP, plenty of people have successfully fought off phone masts near their homes and schools. You will undoubtedly get a vast amount of abuse on here for wanting to, but there have been tons of successful campaigns in this country and of course in Europe. It's easy for the phone companies to find a better location if local people have the nous to protest.

There are plenty of organisations which can help. I'll PM you later - I'm not really happy to stick around for the abuse myself. Sorry you're having to put up with it. Sad

frankie3 · 07/02/2012 17:35

There tends to be a mn point of view on most subjects. And the general mn view on wifi and mobile phone masts is very pro and not questioning at all. I have a mobile but turn off the wifi at night. I know my neighbours have wifi but at we are in a detached house so it is not that close. I would also not chose to live next door an electricity pylon although I obviously use electricity!

shopinstore · 07/02/2012 17:37

The MN POV is often wrong. Didn't used to be the case; is now.

TheParanoidAndroid · 07/02/2012 17:40

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by Mumsnet.

JustHecate · 07/02/2012 17:40

I disagree that there's an 'mn point of view'

If there was, there wouldn't be so many bloody bunfights Grin

JustHecate · 07/02/2012 17:41

sorry. must finish point before posting!

it would just be thread after thread of I think X
I agree
I agree
I agree
I agree
I agree...

Agincourt · 07/02/2012 17:42

I'm sorry, i was just concerned about the badgers :(

LtEveDallas · 07/02/2012 17:46

I've been on MN for 6 years now and this is the first time I have ever seen a 'mobile phone' 'wifi' thread. I'm going to have to do an Adv Search now and see what the MN POV is...

Of course it could just be that many MNers are educated in and understand the benefits and dangers of mobile phone masts - have researched them themselves and have formed and opinion based on the facts, no?

LtEveDallas · 07/02/2012 17:58

Well blow me, there were a few (50 or so, but most around 2005/6/7) mainly in parenting/development and MN local - not places I go a lot.

I apologise, maybe there is a MN POV after all

(many of these old threads seem to mention Ben Goldacre - I think I'll go back and see what he thinks...)

CervixWithASmile · 07/02/2012 18:02

I understand both viewpoints but think most of the responses to the OP have been patronizing, sarcastic and sometimes aggressive.

You might have very valid information that you can educate OP on but the way you're doing it comes across as bullying. Particularly Paranoid Android.

ReduceRecycleRegift · 07/02/2012 18:10

"The MN POV is often wrong. Didn't used to be the case; is now"

so there used to be more people who had the same opinions as you and now there is more of a mix then?

TheParanoidAndroid · 07/02/2012 18:15

oh boo hoo @ bullying. Hmm Throwing that word around makes you sound like a whiny 12 year old, ooh the words on the screen are being mean to me!

CervixWithASmile · 07/02/2012 18:23

Yeah that's right PA, I'm a whiny 12 year old. How perceptive you are.

TheParanoidAndroid · 07/02/2012 18:29

like a. Try to read all the words.

ReduceRecycleRegift · 07/02/2012 18:29

The OP was aggressive in her actions by going ahead and objecting and starting a campaign BEFORE finding out the facts, that's is why it provoked an aggressive reaction!

If the OP was at least AWARE of the other side of the coin before acting, and still felt the same, it could have been more of a discussion

TherapeuticVino · 07/02/2012 18:31

I used to live in a street that the DM called "Cancer Street" as a number of the residents immediately under a building with 16 masts got cancer shortly after they were put up. Coincidence? Who knows, but it didn't help the house prices!!!

We did a lot of research and as I was pregnant I was very unhappy with the situation as it is still very unknown. If you're worried OP there are some very supportive organisations that can help you to start a campaign.

Good luck!

CervixWithASmile · 07/02/2012 18:32

No, really PA, I am. Read all the words, sweetheart.

TheParanoidAndroid · 07/02/2012 18:35

Then you should probably trot off and do your homework.

CervixWithASmile · 07/02/2012 18:38

Good idea. OP, best of luck and hope you have a generally better reception from other MN members.

ReduceRecycleRegift · 07/02/2012 18:38

Therapeutic what kind of rock was the street over? That has much more of an effect on "cancer streets" than masts ever could!

TherapeuticVino · 07/02/2012 18:51

No idea, but there was no cancer cluster until they put up 16 masts, so personally I couldn't rule that out!

ReduceRecycleRegift · 07/02/2012 19:07

hmmm, 8 out of ten cat owners own either tea or coffee. There are many things that are more likely to cause a cancer street, the problem with the mast issue is that because they are visible and obvious sometimes people can't see past that.

ReduceRecycleRegift · 07/02/2012 19:08

for example a really cheap deal at the local double glazing provider, that's another thing that is much more likely to have an effect but you don't really see it

Original poster
bookbird · 07/02/2012 19:23

I was aware of the other side of the coin reduce, I did broad research and found 200 metres to be the accepted preferred distance from a school.

I chose to be polite, thinking your stance suggests some knowledge in the area. I have done more research and while my house will be underneath, the beam of concentration begins 50-200 metres from the base of the mast, so the school is right in the firing line!

Thanks cervix, I thought I was being a bit sensitive.

Bowing out of this thread and off to mobilise some apathetic neighbours Grin

OP posts:
DamnBamboo · 07/02/2012 19:57

Bet you'd moan about bad reception though wouldn't you?

I had to laugh when it became clear that you a) use a mobile phone b) have WiFi; I was assuming you lived in a hand-built hut of sticks and twigs in the new forest and relied on carrier pigeons to send messages. But oh no, you enjoy technology like the rest of us.

FWIW, there was mobile mast around the same distance from my last house and I was pleased about my proximity to it.

YABU