ÒFEAR of the unknownÓ has spurred local playgroup and Guide Association leaders into strongly opposing plans for the installation of a mobile phone mast on the site of the Chawton Park Indoor Bowls Club.

And they are calling on local people to support their cause.

Speaking on behalf of both groups, which meet regularly in the neighbouring Westbrook Guides headquarters in Chawton Park Road, Averil Mangan, said the over-riding concern was for the safety of the children.

ÒWe have documentation from both the Department of Health and Education stating that children under the age of 15 years are more susceptible to health damage, not only from direct use but also from all equipment relating to mobile phones.

ÒTheir nervous systems are still developing, their skulls are thinner and they are likely to absorb microwaves more easily than adults.Ó

While, to a certain degree she and other concerned leaders and parents were Òafraid of the unknownÓ, Mrs Mangan said they were not prepared to take the risk with their childrenÕs lives.

Mrs Mangan drew a parallel with the introduction of the Thalidomide drug which had not been fully tested and was used with disastrous results. That too had been uncharted territory.

ÒLocal objectors are not prepared to make the same mistake again,Ó said Mrs Mangan, who believes local people have a duty to stand up for the rights of their children.

It is a view echoed by Westbrook district commissioner Sue Pond. In a letter to the Herald this week, Mrs Pond points out that the 17.1m high mast would be located just 65 metres from the Hawkins Headquarters which provides a regular meeting place for Rainbows, Brownies, Guides and children attending the Busy Bees Pre-School.

ÒAs no one is able to prove that the rays from these installations are not dangerous to childrenÕs health, we must register our concerns,Ó said Mrs Pond. ÒThere must be a safer site in the surrounding countryside for this mast.Ó

It is a point made by Averil Mangan who understands that the guide for the installation of such masts is at least 100 metres away from any building. She worries also for the Day Services Centre which stands on the other side of the bowls club. Plans are afoot for the service to move to a new building and for Hampshire County Council to sell the land for development.

ÒIt is quite likely that the land will be developed for family-type houses where children would live 24-hours a day under the mast,Ó she said.

Pre-school leader Joan Polson also fears for the long-term well-being of the children in her care and, like the guides, is urging parents and concerned individuals to write, without delay to local MP Michael Mates, to Alton Town Council and to East Hampshire District Council planning officers at Penns Place, Petersfield, to express their objections to the application. Letters need to be in by this Monday, May 20.

According to Chawton Park Indoor Bowls Club vice-president Dick Goodeve, the club had been approached by BT Cellnet who were seeking land within the town on which to site a phone mast.

As tenants, the club had, he said, gone through all the right channels. It had sought permission from land owners, Alton Town Council, and had received the go-ahead to negotiate with BT who have since submitted a planning application for the mast.

ÒI cannot believe that anybody, in this day and age, would be allowed to erect a mast anywhere it it was going to prove harmful to people,Ó said Mr Goodeve.

ÒA vast percentage of the population now uses mobile phones - they need to get a signal and for that you need a mast.Ó

ÒI donÕt believe we would have been approached in the first place if there was any danger attached,Ó he said.

If the mast is erected it is expected to produce a yearly rental income of around £3,500 from BT which should benefit both the club and the town council.