Orange Ordered To Cover Phone Tower Risks
Sydney Morning Herald
Saturday March 9, 2002
A Sydney council has told the mobile communications company Hutchison it must indemnify it against phone tower emissions that prove harmful to residents.
The move, by Waverley Council, follows an application by Hutchison, which operates the Orange brand, to put another 19 dishes and two antennas on the Bondi Junction tower.
After protests by local residents, the Mayor of Waverley, Paul Pearce, agreed to the dishes, but only on condition the company ``sign a waiver of any future liability to council arising from any future human health impact which may arise as a result of electro-magnetic radiation".
However, the council has rejected the two antennas on the basis of Hutchison's own admission that they are more prone to electro-magnetic leakage.
Residents are worried about the largely unknown health implications of the transmitters, particularly on nearby schools and child-care centres. They are also angry about not being told where smaller transmitters are located.
The Telecommunications Act overrides all local government planning rights, meaning phone companies do not have to tell councils when and where they are installing new transmitters. But protesters say they are being installed on residential apartment blocks without consultation.
It was only because of the Birrell Street tower's heritage listing that Hutchison had to seek approval.
Bernard Purcell, head of the Tower Watch protest group, said: ``Federal legislation has paved the way for these people to put [transmitters] up almost willy nilly, without proper consultation, without due care and without safety monitoring."
Cr Pearce is pushing for a Senate inquiry into the regulations, specifically ``whether the installation of telecommunication equipment should be subject to State planning laws so as people can have some say as to what goes on in their neighbourhood".
A spokeswoman for Hutchison, Jacqueline Crompton, said it was company policy to inform local councils of all installations.
Hutchison was also complying with a Waverley Council policy requiring equipment emissions to be 1000 times less than the national standard, she said.
Hutchison had not received the wording of the indemnity clause so could not comment on whether it would be accepted.
``It's an unusual step, particularly as Waverley has a telecommunications policy of its own," Ms Crompton said. ``It suggests the council doesn't have confidence in its own policy."
Hutchison would accept the decision on the antennas and would not try to install them in another location that would not need approval, she said.
Growing concern over the radiation effects of mobile phone handsets has led St Vincent's Hospital to examine the effects of different levels of exposure on human brain cells.
The chief researcher, Peter French, believes the risks from towers are much lower than from handsets held close to the head: ``It is the same type of radiation ... but the levels are far greater from handsets."
© 2002 Sydney Morning Herald