Residents in two communities in the midlands are angry at the erection of masts which they fear could be harmful to their health.Two masts are causing concern in Birr, Co Offaly, while in Mountrath, Co Laois, 800 signatures have been collected in opposition to a mobile telecommunications structure.Mr John and Mrs Louise O'Grady of Emmet Street, Birr, have been complaining to their local authority since last October about a mast beside their home.It was erected at the rear of an electrical shop run by Mr Brendan Mannion and is the property of Chorus (Irish Multichannel). The Chorus design team claims the structure for digital TV transmission is an exempted development not requiring planning permission. They say it replaced an existing structure which was unsafe.A senior planning officer inspected the mast in March and concluded it was not exempted development for a number of reasons, including the fact that it is about 25 metres from the replaced structure, is wider and has an antenna platform which the replaced mast did not have.He suggested that the matter be referred to An Bord Pleanala for its opinion. It was, and the judgment is not due until July 25th.However, last December Mr Mannion was threatened with prosecution by the local authority in connection with the "unauthorised development". Mr O'Grady has criticised the UDC for not proceeding with the case."As a statutory body they should have had the backbone to come out and deal with it rather than go for the easy option and refer it to An Bord Pleanala. I feel they have reneged on their statutory duties in the way they have handled it," he said."This mast is visible from every window we look out. It's quite unsightly, to say the least, but I would be more concerned about its health implications." The Birr town clerk, Mr Seamus Corrigan, said there was provision in the legislation to seek the advice of An Bord Pleanala when there was a dispute about whether a development was exempted from planning permission.He said the UDC would have had to go to court and seek an injunction against the developer if it was pushing to have the structure taken down. It would have been "unwise of us to take up the court's time and spend a lot of money on an injunction without having the view of An Bord Pleanala first".A spokeswoman for Chorus said the company was awaiting the decision of the board. Mr Mannion was not available for comment.Mr Tony McLoughlin, a member of Birr UDC, said he was more concerned about a mobile phone mast erected at Bridge Street, Birr, in 1997, close to two primary schools. He wants an independent group to measure emissions from the structure.Meanwhile, 800 signatures have been collected in Mountrath, Co Laois, in opposition to an Esat Digifone base station in the town. Support for the campaign is growing, and a further meeting takes place tonight in a local hall.Ms Margaret Keegan, chairwoman of the Mountrath Safety Awareness Group, said the structure was erected close to schools, and people feared for their health. They also felt it was very unfair that the structure was erected without consultation with the community.She added that while the jury was out on whether or not these structures were safe, her group wanted them placed at least 500 metres from homes. "I have seen enough data to know nobody can categorically say these structures are safe," she said.Mr Oliver Coughlan, head of site acquisition and construction at Esat Digifone, said the structure was not a mast but an attachment to a chimney. He said it had not yet been turned on, and contractors had been prevented by angry local people from entering the site last week.Esat Digifone believed the structure did not require planning permission and it had not been told by the local authority to take it down.
Laois County Council confirmed it is considering on considering whether the structure is exempted or not.