Proposed Mobile Phone Mast on St John's Church Tower
Local residents are probably aware that St John's Church has been asked to site a 3G mobile phone mast on the Tower for the O2/Vodafone networks in return for payment to the Church.
The SGRA distributed a flier in early November to inform residents about the proposal and a drop-in session to be held at the church, and to invite comments and views from any residents who would like to give them. The SGRA will be sending any feedback received to the relevant authorities.
From the feedback received to date it is clear that it is a complicated issue with many bodies involved and that there has been uncertainty and rumour concerning several aspects of the proposal. Uncertainties have included the health implications (if any), the alternatives considered, the permissions required and the steps residents should take if they wish to make their views known on an individual basis.
This webpage pulls together information which has been received by the SGRA. In each case the sources are noted, though please note that the SGRA has not verified the accuracy or otherwise of any statements made.
Information on this page includes:
- The proposal in brief
- Twelve questions about the proposal sent to Waldon. Waldon's replies.
- Two further questions sent to Waldon with Waldon's replies.
- Written concerns raised by a group of local residents
- Photographs of a similar mast
- Drawing of the current and proposed flagpole/mast
- The role of the SGRA
If you would like to comment to the SGRA on the proposal or on the information on this page please email:
If you wish to contact Jenny Bye, the planning consultant at Waldon Telecom, her details are: Phoenix House, Pyrford Road, West Byfleet, Surrey, KT14 6RA,
, 01932 411 022
The SGRA has been told that the church is now applying to the Consistory Court of the Diocese of Southwark for permission to carry out the works
Residents who wish to object should write to arrive no later than 5th December to:
The Diocesan Registrar
Mr Paul C. E. Morris
Minerva House
5 Montague Close
London SE1 9BB
stating your name, postal address and whether you live in the parish and/or are entered on the electoral roll of the parish, or are writing in any other capacity.
The proposal is to site a mobile phone mast on the Tower for the O2/Vodafone networks. The proposed antenna would be housed in a white flagpole structure, (which can fly flags), on top of the tower. The height, at 5 metres, would be the same as the existing flagpole but the diameter would increase from the current 75mm to 275mm. The mast would be built by New Edge Communications who have appointed Waldon Telecom as their planning agent.
[Sources: Original letter sent to SGRA Chairman, phone call with Waldon]
Q1.What will be the power output emitted by the mast?
THE PROPOSAL IS FOR A STANDARD POWER MACROCELL BASE STATION WITH SIX ANTENNAS. THE POWER OUTPUT FOR THE ANTENNA IS 43DBM PER CHANNEL, OR 13 DBW PER CHANNEL. EACH ANTENNA HAS TWO CHANNELS; THIS CAN BE COMPARED TO OTHER BASE STATIONS USING THE SITEFINDER WEB SITE WWW.SITEFINDER.OFCOM.ORG.UK
2. How does this compare with other masts? Is it true that this mast of this output are conventionally defined as "low power"?
IT IS THE SAME AS ANY OTHER MACRO 3G SITE. BOTH MOBILE PHONES AND THEIR BASE STATIONS ARE LOW-POWERED DEVICES. HANDSETS OPERATE AT LESS THAN 1 WATT AND A BASE STATION BETWEEN 2 AND 200 WATTS DEPENDING ON THE AREA COVERED. SOME TV TRANSMITTERS RUN AT 100,000 WATTS AND MORE.
3.I have heard that there will be 6 antennae in the mast.Is this true? How does this compare with other masts which have been erected by your company, and what are the implications of this?
Yes it is true. TELECOMS SITES VARY. SOME HAVE LESS THAN 6 ANTENNAS, SOME HAVE MORE THAN 6 ANTENNAS. SOME ARE FOR BOTH 2G AND 3G COVERAGE, OTHERS, LIKE THE ONE PROPOSED AT ST JOHN'S, IS FOR 3G ONLY. ALL SITES ARE ICNIRP COMPLIANT.
3.What is the frequency of the radiation?
3G - 2.1GHz UMTS
4.What would be the power absorbed by a person standing, say, 20 metres away? And 100m away?
PLEASE FIND ATTACHED A RF (RADIO FREQUENCY) ASSESSMENT FOR THE PROPOSED INSTALLATION AT ST JOHN THE EVANGELIST CHURCH.
THE PURPOSE OF THE ASSESSMENT IS TO CALCULATE THE MAXIMUM RADIO WAVE INTENSITY FROM THE PROPOSAL. YOU WILL SEE THAT THE MAXIMUM RADIO WAVE INTENSITY WILL FALL AT A DISTANCE OF 142M FROM THE SITE, AT A BEARING OF 347°. AT THIS POINT, THE MAXIMUM RADIO WAVE INTENSITY WILL BE 0.11% OF THE ICNIRP GUIDELINES, WHICH IS LESS THAN ONE PERCENT OF THE GUIDELINES.
THE ASSESSMENT ALSO CALCULATES THE RADIO WAVE INTENSITY IN TERMS OF PERCENTAGE OF THE ICNIRP GUIDELINES AT POINTS 5M, 50M AND FOR EACH 100M FROM THE SITE UP TO 500M, SHOWN IN THE TABLE. FOR EXAMPLE, THE RADIO WAVE INTENSITY FROM THE SITE AT A DISTANCE OF 5M ALONG THE BEARING OF 347° WILL BE 0.00055% OF THE ICNIRP GUIDELINES. AT A DISTANCE OF 50M ALONG THE BEARING OF 347°, THE RADIO WAVE INTENSITY WILL BE 0.0035% OF THE ICNIRP GUIDELINES.
5.How do these figures compare with the radiation emitted by a domestic wireless router? And a mobile phone?
PLEASE REFER TO THE SECOND ATTACHMENT WHICH COMPARES THE ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION EMITTED BY A MOBILE PHONE BASE STATION WITH SOURCES OF EMF FOUND IN ANY HOME.
6.Where locally is there an example of a similar mast/flagpole already in operation that we could visit?
THIS IS THE CLOSEST I COULD FIND: A TELECOMS FLAGPOLE WITH A LARGER DIAMETER (325MM) THAN THE ONE PROPOSED AT ST JOHN'S (275MM) IS LOCATED AT PRINCESS HOUSE ON HORACE STREET, KINGSTON, KT1 2SI. IT IS SHORTER (3M) THAN THE ONE PROPOSED AT ST JOHN'S (5M, TO MATCH THE HEIGHT OF THE EXISTING FLAGPOLE). WHILST THE PROPOSED FLAGPOLE AT ST JOHN'S WILL BE A LESS INTRUSIVE STRUCTURE, PARTICULARLY AS THE HEIGHT WILL REFLECT THAT OF THE EXISTING FLAGPOLE IT IS PROPOSED TO REPLACE, IT WILL GIVE YOU AN INDICATION OF THE PROPOSED STRUCTURE. THE PRINCESS HOUSE SITE IS AN EXISTING O2 SITE WHICH VODAFONE IS LOOKING TO SHARE. PLEASE NOTE IT DOES NOT PROVIDE COVERAGE TO THE AREA WHICH THE PROPOSED SITE AT ST JOHN'S IS DESIGNED TO FILL.
PLEASE FIND ATTACHED PHOTOS OF A CONSTRUCTED FLAGPOLE WHICH HAS THE SAME DIAMETER (275MM) AS THE ONE PROPOSED AT ST JOHN'S, ALTHOUGH IT IS LONGER THAN THE ONE PROPOSED AT ST JOHN'S.
7.Do you have any before and after pictures of churches which already have the same mast installed as the one that you are proposing for St.John's ?
WE DO NOT HAVE ANY PHOTOS AS NONE HAVE BEEN CONSTRUCTED ON CHURCHES OR CHURCH PROPERTIES AS YET, ALTHOUGH SOME ARE IN THE PIPELINE. THIS IS BECAUSE THE SHARING OF INFRASTRUCTURE BY VODAFONE AND O2, AS IS PROPOSED AT ST JOHN'S, IS A NEW PROJECT.
8.Will it be possible to fly a flag on the flagpole? YES. Where we can we see a real example of a flag flying on a similar mast? Do you have a photograph of one?
THE FLAGPOLE PROPOSED AT ST JOHN'S IS FOR SHARED USE BY BOTH O2 AND VODAFONE. WHILST SINGLE OPERATOR FLAGPOLES HAVE BEEN CONSTRUCTED ON CHURCHES, WE DO NOT HAVE ANY PHOTOS OF FLAGS FLYING FROM THEM, AS ONCE THEY ARE CONSTRUCTED, OUR DESIGNERS DO NOT VISIT THE SITE AGAIN. FOR THE SAME REASON, WE DO NOT KNOW OF ANY CONSTRUCTED FLAGPOLE SITES WHICH ARE FLYING FLAGS; THIS DOESN'T MEAN THERE AREN'T ANY.
9.What permissions have to be sought by Waldon and your associated companies in order for this mast to be erected. To whom should residents write if they have any concerns?
PLANNING AND BUILDING PERMISSION WILL BE REQUIRED, AS WELL AS PERMISSION FROM THE CHURCH CHANCELLOR. AT THIS STAGE, RESIDENTS CAN WRITE TO ME AT JENNY BYE, WALDON TELECOM, PHOENIX HOUSE, PYRFORD ROAD, WEST BYFLEET, SURREY, KT14 6RA OR BY EMAIL jenny.bye@waldontelecom.com AND TO THE REGISTRAR OF THE DIOCESE (I WILL SUPPLY THE ADDRESS FOR THIS TOMORROW). SHOULD AN APPLICATION FOR PLANNING PERMISSION BE SUBMITTED, RESIDENTS WILL THEN ALSO BE ABLE TO WRITE TO THE LOCAL PLANNING AUTHORITY (THE LOCAL PLANNING AUTHORITY WILL WRITE TO RESIDENTS FIRST TO GIVE THEM AN OPPORTUNITY TO COMMENT).
10 What are the deadlines?
5 DECEMBER 2010 TO WRITE TO THE REGISTRAR. MY DEADLINE IS MORE FLEXIBLE - I'M HAPPY TO ALLOW ANOTHER WEEK IF THERE IS A NEED TO DO SO.
11.There is a rumour that there is an alternative proposal to site the antennae within lampposts spread across the community.Is this true?
SHOULD THE PROPOSED SCHEME AT THE CHURCH NOT BE PROGRESSED, THE OPERATORS WILL RE-SURVEY THE AREA FOR ALTERNATIVE SITES. IT IS POSSIBLE THAT ALTERNATIVES COULD BE PROPOSED IN THE FORM OF STREET FURNITURE INSTALLATIONS ON THE FOOTPATH IN THE AREA, TYPICALLY 10M TO 12.5M HIGH, DEPENDING ON THE LOCATION. THIS IS USUALLY ONLY PROPOSED IF THERE ARE NO OTHER ALTERNATIVES AVAILABLE TO ACHIEVE COVERAGE AND MINIMISE IMPACT. INSTALLATIONS WITHIN EXISTING LAMPPOSTS ARE NOT ENVISAGED.
12.I have also heard a rumour that the phone companies expect that in a year's time they will be allowed to use the lower frequencies for 3G phones. These frequencies have a longer range, which would render a mast on St John's Church unnecessary.Is this true?
CURRENTLY UMTS 900 IS NOT AVAILABLE AND AS A RESULT THE OPERATORS' STRATEGY HAS NOT YET BEEN DECIDED.
1. Was the Church approached after the phone operators were refused permission by the University to locate a mast on their site?
A survey was undertaken to locate potential sites. Both the university and the church were potential sites. Our surveyors confirmed the university will not allow the operators to locate equipment on their premises.
2.Has the University asked for all masts to be removed from its buildings?
I have not been able to obtain a satisfactory response to this as yet. Regardless, it is reiterated that the university does not want the operators on its premises; the university is therefore unavailable for Vodafone and O2 to locate their equipment.
- You may know that O2 and Vodafone have reached agreement with St John’s Church to install a base station with a mast on the tower. This is subject to permission being granted by the Diocese of Southwark. The church will be paid an annual rent by the phone companies.
- The proposal is for a high power macrocell base station with six antennas with a radiation capacity of 100 watts, antennas with a radiation capacity of 100 watts, which is at the high end of the power range for mobile phone base stations.
- The “beam of greatest intensity” from this mast will spread out to 300metres.This includes St John’s School ; Kingston University (Penrhyn Rd and Knights Park sites); properties in a radius from the church to cover Beaufort Rd/ Glenthorne Rd/Portland Rd. This includes your area.
- Short –term studies have not so far shown a conclusive link between radio frequency radiation from these masts and cancerous effects, but clusters have been reported. Official agencies and reports to Government have recommended that a precautionary approach should be adopted because the technology is new and long-term effects have not been assessed. Children particularly may be at risk.
- The mast is mainly to ensure business from university students. The phone companies say they approached the church after they were refused permission by the university.
- It is well known that the close proximity of these masts can affect house prices.
- The phone companies confirm that they are not seeking to install street level micro transmitters as an alternative.
- If you wish to object to this proposal you should write to : The Diocesan Registrar, Mr Paul C.E.Morris , Minerva House, 5 Montague Close, London SE1 9BB. Letters should be received by Dec 5.
[Source: Group of concerned residents]
The mast in the picture below is the same height and diameter as the proposed mast.
For more pictures
click here. It is a 2MB file so may take a few moments to open.
[Source: Supplied by Waldon Telecom]
The picture below shows the current and proposed mast. Click on the picture to enlarge it.
The aims of the SGRA are summarised on the homepage of this website. Please note in particular the following:
As the community is diverse, there are often different views about what constitutes the preservation and improvement of its local amenities. It is often the case that there is not a unanimous view about a particular issue either in the wider community or amongst committee members.
The committee will therefore always do its best to provide full and impartial information to its members. If the SGRA is approached to establish community views about an issue, the committee will do its best to gain and feed back all views which it receives. Where time permits the SGRA may be able to arrange local consultation on important matters, but will remain impartial in both the information it gives out and the feed back it provides.
