PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
MOBILE PHONES AND MASTS (14 May 2000)

That this House welcomes the publication of the Stewart Report; notes its conclusions and recommendations; and urges the Government, in view of the widespread uncertainty and public concern over the rapid increase in the number of base stations and escalating sales of mobile phones to take a precautionary approach to future development and adopt the ICNIRP guidelines for public exposure to RF radiation rather than those of the NRPB, to set up a register of occupationally exposed workers so that cancer risks and mortality be examined to determine any harmful effects, to act immediately to revoke permitted development rights for masts under 15 metres and require any future planning application for a mast to be subject to the normal planning process, to require any change to the structure or overall power radiated from an existing base station to be treated as if it were a new development, to require all operators to register each individual site with the local authority detailing the exact location, the frequency, modulation characteristics and power output, to require each local authority to maintain an up-to-date data base of all macrocell, microcell and picocell installations in their area, to set up a national data base of such installations, to require a regular and independent inspection of installations to ensure that exposure guidelines are not exceeded outside the marked exclusion zone around any base station and to establish a marked exclusion zone around each installation with appropriate hazard warning signs and protective barriers.

Sponsored by:
Lord Willis of Knaresborough (Liberal Democrat)