Mast at St Wilfrid's

There is nothing illegal about what has been done here,  just strong public opinion that the law needs changing for  'precautionary safety'.

What about doing something about the BT Cellphone mast  tucked at the edge of the Standish Court Golf Club ('Hogans') car park just 50m from the playground of St. Wilfrid's.

Now you might think that because there are a few trees in the way and you can't see it from the school too easily in the summer this would not be an issue. Rubbish. The main beams from the antenna will touch down to ground level in the school grounds and the trees offer little radio shielding.  The siting is one of the worst examples in the country  because the mast was kept below 15m to get past planning controls and then is positioned several meters lower than the school field at the golf club.

Given that the siting is not too obtrusive we, the public, can't object on visual grounds. The NRPB safety limits, (based on biological cooking rather than a 'precautionary approach'), won't be exceeded so we can't officially object on health grounds. The only options left are to name and shame those involved, tell councillors in the hope they have influence and MP's to hurry and get the law changed. If Stuart's proposals are made law, beams should not be allowed to fall onto the school grounds without the permission of the school and parents.

Latest: The council has paid lip service to consultation, first with a draft policy following Stuart's report but then a version, biased back to the views of the cellphone companies, appeared. Councillors are currently blocking many applications on appearance grounds.  The current council policy on masts is on the Wigan MBC web site.