PHONE giant Orange will today (Friday) decide whether to drop controversial plans to put a mobile phone mast next to a Farnham infants school. The plans to put a mast on Waverley Lane opposite Bourne Infants School sparked an angry response from parents who are concerned about the potential harm to the health of their children. The protesters say that until the safety of the radioactive waves emitted from the phone masts can be ensured they should not be positioned next to a school. Orange says that a protest by Bourne School Mast Action Group at a recent consultation meeting showed the strength of feeling about the Waverley Lane site and says it has made no firms plans to proceed with an application. Company officials are meeting today to discuss the feedback received from the consultation exercise and to decide on their future strategy. A spokeswoman for Orange said: "This was a genuine consultation exercise and as yet nothing is set in stone. We have been reviewing a few options which have been discounted in the past. "There is obviously a lot of feeling about the mast near to Bourne School and this is an issue which we will certainly be looking at closely. "We've said that the best solution would be to use the existing ntl mast which would take away the need for the mast near the school. Even if this proves impossible, however, we will maintain a flexible approach and we have to look at the overall picture." Orange said that it will consult with local residents group before any planning applications for masts are placed with the local authority. Hundreds of parents, children and residents held a placard-waving demonstration at the recent Orange consultation meeting which was held at the Bush Hotel. Niki Hearnshaw, campaign co-ordinator for the Bourne School Masts Action Group, said: "It's good to know that Orange now fully understand the amount of opposition to this mast. "It is encouraging to know that they will be taking this into consideration when they consider whether to proceed or not. "We know from experience, however, that there is no room for complacency with these matters and will remain completely focussed until we get an assurance that no masts will be positioned near to the school. "This an important issue which we are determined to see through right to the end. While the safety of the masts cannot be proven we will not allow our children to be used as guinea pigs." Orange said it has been trying to solve the problem of poor network coverage in south Farnham for the past 11 years. The company said it would prefer not to put a mast on the Waverley Lane site but has run out of all other alternatives. Its preferred option would be to use an existing ntl mast which is situated on Surrey County Council land in Aveley Lane. It is dependent, however, on ntl and the local authority sorting out a dispute over unpaid rent. An Orange spokesman said: "I think the consultation meeting allowed people to see how hard we've been working over the years to try and solve this difficult problem. "The feedback we've had shows that people would prefer to have a small number of large masts rather than more smaller ones. "Hopefully this is something that will have filtered through to the councillors and planning authorities who in the past have opposed the larger scale masts." David Munro, Farnham South county councillor, has called for all sides involved to have a meeting to try and find a consensus. He said that the subject is too important to be left solely to the planning process. "The danger is that if applications are considered on a one-off basis, the final network of masts will neither be in the best environmental position nor in the best place to get the most efficient coverage. "I suggest a public meeting to start with, hosted jointly by Surrey, Waverley and representatives from mobile phone companies." Orange is expected to make an announcement on the outcome of the meeting next week.
