A LANDOWNER has turned down £3,000 a year from a telecommunications giant which wanted to site a mobile phone mast on his property. Andy Smith, of Etna Road, Buckley, said the possible health risks associated with the communications towers had made up his mind. He originally gave technicians from Vodafone permission to carry out a survey on his three-acre small holding. 'I asked them to supply information about the safety of masts, but they never responded,' he said. 'In the end I had to track down the facts on the internet, and after reading up on masts I decided I definitely didn't want one on my land. 'Although the government say masts are safe, organisations like People Against Masts dis-agree. Not enough is known about the long-term effects on health, so I just wasn't prepared to take the risk.' Andy's neighbours in Etna Road were up in arms when they were told Vodafone wanted to erect a 15-metre mast at the end of the street. They lobbied local county councillors Mike Peers and Dennis Hutchinson, who backed their opposition. 'No planning application was actually sent in to the authority, but people were still worried about the situation,' said Cllr Hutchinson. Cllr Peers said there had been similar worries about Vodafone's earlier proposal to put up a mast nearby, close to St Matthew's Church - a plan rejected by parishioners. Mr Smith said the issue of a mast on his land was now closed. 'I was not prepared to risk the health of either my family or the local community as the effect of these masts is not known. 'As my first grandchild is about to be born, it made me even more determined to say no.' Concerns are mounting over plans for another mast in Buckley. County councillor Carol Ellis has been informed an application has been made for a communications tower on land at Pren Farm, off Mold Road. She said: 'I have called on Flintshire County Council to make sure residents in the area are fully consulted before any decision is made. I'm totally opposed to the idea because we don't yet know the long-term health risks from this type of mast.' george.tattum@cheshirenews.co.uk 'No evidence of harm' A SPOKESWOMAN for Vodafone said extensive research had shown mobile phone masts posed no danger to health. She said the firm's base stations were designed to comply with stringent, precautionary public exposure guidelines set out by the International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection. 'These guidelines have been developed following a thorough review of the science including both thermal and non-thermal effects,' she said. 'Vodafone installations have been surveyed by independent bodies and found to be hundreds, thousands, and sometimes tens of thousands, of times below these guidelines.' She added: 'Mobile phones are new but the technology is not. 'The World Health Organisation states that, despite extensive research, to date there is no evidence to conclude that exposure to low-level electromagnetic fields is harmful to human health.' | 
