Sligo's ban on phone masts 'a waste of time'

Sligo County Council will continue its ban on the siting of mobile phone masts close to schools, hospitals, and population centres despite a view that the ban is "not worth the paper it is written on".

A clause in the new County Development Plan will urge that mobile phone telecommunications masts should "not generally be constructed within 1 km of smaller towns, villages, residential areas, schools, hospitals, child care centres or nursing homes and not within 400 m of private dwellings".

This measure was unanimously supported at a meeting to discuss the draft plan, even by those who said that in the past members' wishes in this area had been overturned by Bord Pleanála.

Sligo's mayor, Cllr Declan Bree (Labour), who proposed the amendment, conceded that the same clause in the existing County Development Plan had not always been successful.

Operators who the council turned down had later successfully appealed to the bord, he said, but public representatives had to take a stand on behalf of communities who were worried about such masts

Cllr Paul Conmy (FG) said the clause was "not worth the paper it was written on" because any unsuccessful operator would simply appeal to Bord Pleanála.

"I still support it but it is a waste of time," he said.

Council officials recommended a compromise which would allow freestanding masts to be erected close to residential areas and other facilities "only as a last resort". Stressing the importance of a state of the art telecommunications network to clients of the IDA and Enterprise Ireland, officials also stressed that proposed masts would have to meet international safety guidelines.

But Cllr Joe Queenan (FF) said that the jury was still out on the health issue and he pointed out that there was a high incidence of cancer in west Sligo.

"Why can they not go up the mountains, away from people?" he asked.

"They want to put [ the masts] into housing estates because it is cheaper.

They are not concerned about people's health but about their own back pockets."

Ms Margaret Gormley, the council's chairwoman, who had to interrupt the debate to tell people to switch off mobile phones which were repeatedly ringing - said she agreed that they should not take chances with people's health.

"There are so many things we cannot do anything about but here is something we have some control over.

"When in doubt keep them out," she said.