Plans for Darras Hall phone mast dropped

Feb 27 2010 by David Black, The Journal

CONTROVERSIAL plans to site a mobile phone mast next to a popular school were dropped yesterday after hundreds of residents sent out a clear message of protest to a telecoms giant.

Telefonica O2 announced it will not go ahead with erecting the 12.5 metre-high mast outside 450-pupil Darras Hall First School in Ponteland, Northumberland, following a meeting with community leaders.

Instead the company said it will work in partnership with the local community and council planning officers to find an alternative and less sensitive site.

The U-turn is a major victory for campaigners who have opposed putting the mast next to the school or elderly people’s flats on The Broadway.

O2’s decision came after several hundred local people turned up to stage an impressive demonstration prior to yesterday’s meeting in Ponteland United Reformed Church Hall.

Parents, grandparents and children from local schools defied heavy rain to turn out with placards saying No2O2 and greet company representatives arriving for the meeting.

Fences and hedges on roadsides near the school were festooned with large banners saying Education Not Radiation, Brainwaves Not Microwaves and Keep Us From Harm, Put The Mast On A Farm.