Two letters published in Knaresborough Post 2-3-01
We must not risk children’s health
From Mrs W Taylor, Aspin Lane, Knaresborough.
I AM writing to express my concern about the proposed installation of telecommunications equipment in the tower of Holy Trinity Church. I am horrified that this issue really only became public knowledge because of the need for planning permission to remove stonework from the church. Whilst the preservation of the appearance of the church is important, it is the health of present and future generations of residents which is the key issue. As it cannot yet be proved that exposure to the radiation from such equipment is not detrimental to health, it is our collective duty to ensure that our children's future health should not be jeopardised in order to secure short term profit for the telecommunications industry. Why is it permitted in this country to site these base stations in such close proximity to houses, when there are 300 to 500 metre exclusion zones around them in other countries? The Stewart Report recommendation that no masts should be erected on schools, nor their main beams cross over school land without parental consent, should logically extend to protecting residential areas in which even more vulnerable babies and pro-school children would be exposed to radiation 24 hours a day. The fact that there is already a mast on the fire station is bad enough. For people caught between the two sites there must be very real concern and a feeling that their health is regarded as expendable by the mobile phone companies and the owners of buildings on which these masts are sited. I urge all Knaresborough residents to join in the protest against this development, whether they live nearby or not. Who, if we are all honest, wants to have this thing in their own street? Not me, nor those who live and work around the fire station, nor those who live around Holy Trinity. Would you want it next door?
Spires should be sacred
Mr A Kendrew, Briggate, Knaresborough
The furore over the proposed location of microwave aerials in the spire of Holy Trinity Church seems at present to be based on health grounds only. What about religious grounds? I am a newcomer to Knaresborough. I am a Christian, but I am in default in church attendance due to my personal irritation with the way the Church of England and allied denominations have executed their affairs in the last decade. This does not alter the fact of why churches have steeples and spires. As a child I was along with my family involved with the church and con firmed into the Church of England. I was taught to believe the spire was to send the prayers and praises of the congregation direct to God, as well as acting as a location marker for the encircling populace, showing where the house of the Lord lay. The use of the spires is sacred. I cannot believe the broadcast of telephone messages can be regarded as anything but secular. As an afterthought, would the telephone companies consider approaching the Muslim faiths for the use of a minaret for the installation of similar equipment?
