GREEN Party Euro-MP
Jean Lambert is to meet head teacher Philip Sutton and a group of concerned parents
at the site of a planned mobile 'phone mast just metres from a Harrow school playground.
Former teacher Mrs Lambert, who represents London and is a member of the European Parliament's Petitions Committee, will hear parents' fears over the safety of building a mast so close to a school it will cast shadows over the playground.
She said: "Many of us use mobile 'phones and of course the masts have to be built somewhere - but as long as there remain any unanswered questions over the effects of the electromagnetic fields produced by the masts the precautionary principle must apply.
"No-one is asking Orange not to build masts, just to site them sensibly - away from schools and hospitals, discuss their plans with local residents and engage with the planning process in good faith. This proposal seems to fail on all three counts."
Parents and staff are furious not only that Orange plans to erect the controversial mast so close to the school, but at the company's failure to tell staff sooner.
Orange wrote to St Joseph's informing the school of the proposed location - and giving just ten days for objections to be raised - but the letter didn't arrive until five days of the consultation period had passed.
Principal Mr Sutton, appalled by the 'insensitivity' of the proposal and the way it has been handled, negotiated an extension to the consultation period - and set about collecting parents' and local residents' signatures on a petition opposed to the mast.
Mrs Lambert will be accompanied on her visit to St Joseph's school by local Green Party London Assembly candidate Shahrar Ali.
ENDS
For
more information please contact Ben or Katy on 020 7407 6280, 07973 823358 or
press@greenmeps.org.uk