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Parents protest against mobile mast menace
Caroline McClatchey
WORRIED parents in Highgate have formed an action group to stop a mobile-phone mast going up near their children's school.
Mobile-phone giant O2 wants to put a 12.5m mast on the pavement in Aylmer Road, just 200m from Highgate Primary School in North Hill.
Lead campaigner Andrea Klein, who has a son at the 366-pupil school, held a crisis meeting with headteacher Gill Pinkerton and the chair of governors on Wednesday.
She said: "We are forming an action group and we are definitely going to let O2 know that the school is not prepared to allow for a beam of greatest intensity to fall on its grounds.
"We are concerned about the biological impact and the associated health risks of the waves.
"Until there's conclusive evidence, a precautionary approach should be adopted. We would like any mast to be as far as possible from any school."
As the mast is under 15m, O2 only require what is known as a general permitted development order, falling short of full planning permission. The application for a third-generation (3G) mast in Aylmer Road has been lodged with Haringey Council.
Jim Stevenson, O2's community relations manager, said: "It's a pity we weren't invited to the meeting on Wednesday. We want to speak to people; we are not completely wedded to sites.
"We encourage people to suggest alternative sites. We haven't got planning permission yet; as soon as we do, the mast will go up in the next month or so. We did write to a lot of people in the area through our consultation process, but we didn't get anything back.
"I have since received complaints to which I have replied."
Mrs Klein has recently joined protest group Muswell Hill Against the Masts, which is opposed to masts near Haringey schools. To sign the petition against the O2 mast contact muswell_hill_against_the_masts@yahoo.co.uk
caroline.mcclatchey@hamhigh.co.uk
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