Cellphone tower: there has to be a better way

To the editor:

Re: 'Cell tower plan worries baby's father,' News, March 18.

Last week The Mirror featured an article about Bell Mobility's intention to build a 130-foot tower in the parking lot at 4800 Leslie St.

This plan would put the tower right outside my, and many of my neighbours', back doors. Good for The Mirror to publicize this.

I was one of the more than 80 irate local residents who showed up at Lescon School recently for Bell's information session. Our concerns centre around radio signal emissions and their impact to our health; the unsightly view of the tower; the proximity to private houses (mine included); and the possibility the tower will adversely affect our property values.

I came away perplexed.

It seemed that Bell had not really looked diligently for alternate sites, especially ones remote from homes, and there are a lot of those sites around. Their photograph of the tower "before "and "after" was not clear and their staff engineer failed to explain or adequately answer the many questions about resident safety, for those in the tower's shadow or surrounds. My guess is they were unprepared for the influx of so many concerned residents.

A map shows there are multiple towers in the area and why Bell has to put one right in a residential community is beyond me.

It appears one neighbour will have the contraption about 40 feet from his young son's bedroom. Now that is just not right and the father has every right to know if the antenna pole beaming "low-dose" radiation 24 hours a day will have a health effect on his child's future.

Bell's next ploy will be to take all this to Industry Canada to some tribunal for an airing. I only hope these gurus have the wisdom to say no.

Indeed, the tower will be installed to enhance new Bell services, which will be marketed to new customers and so the advantages belong to Bell Mobility. The disadvantage of the less than handsome pole is that it will become a burr under the collective saddles of innocent local homeowners and a possible hazard to their health.

There has to be a better way.

Danail Danailov