POLL: Would you live in a house that is 300 metres from a mobile phone mast?

[electra]

Yes or no?

i think that now every house has Wi Fi connection the issue of mobile phone masts may be redundant, but not sure.

I wouldn't.

Yes

no way

So long as the mast complied with the ICNIRP guidelines on non-ionising radiation.

No
esp if it's a Tetra one

Nope, nothing can convince me that they are safe

so WWW what about Wi Fi [wireless internet connections] that everyone has now, and most schools? What do you think about them? [genuine question, not sure about safety as no test seem to have been done]

There is one on the roof of our building. (Live in a tall building). It scares the crap out of me, but apparently we are safer here directly under it than in the surrounding areas as the radiation radaiates out, not down.
Masts are everywhere here (Barcelona), it is virtually impossible to be further than 300 metres from one.

Agree about wifi, it's just as bad.

Not deliberately but there are so many such potential hazards in our area it is hard not to be affected by something.

Well.. 2 issues I suppose.
When they're first installed they provide full technical spec on them, and have to demonstrate that the antennae would comply with the WHO/ICNIRP guidance.
If anyone is remotely concerned that the information provided is suspect, or that the radiation exceeds the threshold, they can be investigated.

Second issue really is that with the prevalence of street masts (sometimes disguised to look like lamp columns) round here I reckon that it's fairly unusual not to be within 300m. Think our nearest is about 400m. But then we're none too far from the Crystal Palace TV mast, which has a massive range.

I feel sorry for the authorities as in the Local PLanning authority dealing with the consultations from telecoms companies. They have their hands tied to an extent - impact on health cannot be used as a ground for refusal. Has to be on siting and appearance - and that is hard to justify in some cases as the companies become more and more savvy at disguising them. But then on the other hand, if it has been decided that regulated masts do not have an adverse impact on health, and I am no scientist, why should I not trust that there is no impact on health? I can't prove otherwise.

For an example of complete double standards, we were decidedly put off a prospective house by it being slap bang next to a massive power line. Even though the owners had get an independent survey in an attempt to win over potential buyers. Looked awful, but there's always a nagging doubt isn't there.

No.

Well, not by choice. But if I had nowhere else to live, then I'd have to.

Round here the Council have made a decision that there will be no future masts on any council-owned property. Including schools. Unfortunately, there are still contracts due to run on, unless the council can come up with big bucks for removal.

As an aside. Sort of. How many people saying that they wouldn't move within 300m of a mast actually own mobile phones. There wouldn't be the need for so many of the masts if there wasn't such an extraordinary demand not only for the phones alone, but the phones with all the added crap on them.

Pooka's right, most of us use mobile phones but bizarrely throw up our hands in horror when there's any danger of being near a mast.

There's one near us, probably within 300m. Doesn't bother me.

Thanks for replies. I'm asking because we found the perfect house, but it is near a mobile phone mast...we don't know what to do. My oldest dd has autism too.

It is tricky.

Depends on the mast I suppose. A lot of the ones they seem to be rolling out have a short range. So the cells are smaller. Which means you need more masts. Part of the reason, I believe for the smaller cells is because the use within a cell is so great that in order to have the coverage required for the demand of use (including the extra 3G stuff) that in order to have a large range the mast would have to be very high (needing planning permission rather than a consultation regarding siting and appearance) and obviously being more powerful.

Personally, I think 300m is quite a long way. Am imagining 300m from my house, and that would get me almost to dd's preschool.

Interestingly, I knew someone who believed that there should be a tiny mast on every other lamppost in suburban and urban areas. In order that everyone would be in the same boat, the radiation could be minimised, the visual appearance would be fine, and people wouldn't have the panic about property values that currently happens (along with peoples' worries about health impacts) whenever there's an application for a telecoms mast.
Can't see it happening myself.

here's a handy link to see where the masts are...I was quite shocked at how many there are particularly if you live in the centre of a city...

I would live in the house, but I'm not sure I'd buy it because of the problems if I wanted to sell it.

btw sophierosie - do you know that site hasn't been updated since 2005? So there are probably rather more masts now.