Making a Spa City Sick?
by Karen Churchill of Safe Tech International (UK spelling and grammar is intact)
(Bath is a city in the ceremonial county of Somerset, in England, known for and named after its Roman-built baths. At the 2021 Census, the population was 94,092. The city became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987 and was later added to the transnational World Heritage Site known as the “Great Spa Towns of Europe” in 2021. Bath is also the largest city and settlement in Somerset.) –Source
SMART CITY 5G TRIALS – RESIDENTS REQUEST THAT BATH’S COUNCIL ENACT PUBLIC HEALTH OBLIGATIONS
Flawed Smart City 5G Trial Approval Process?
The ONE WORD Smart City 5G trial, which will see 16 5G small cells installed in Bath city centre from next spring, was signed off on February 5th by Councillor Roper ‘in a single member cabinet decision’.
As part of the trial, which will run over an 18-month period, 200-300 volunteers will be issued with handsets to test the effectiveness of the technology.
Karen Churchill of Bath for Safe Technology commented, “No impact assessment, or proof of safety for the particular technology to be employed in this trial has been provided with the application and residents are questioning whether the trials will be truly ‘safe and effective’. We are calling for careful examination, due process and a full and proper risk assessment to be carried out.”
Residents with EHS symptoms claim they have been shunned by the Council and their condition denied, despite a recent (August 2022) High Court equivalent decision to award a child with an Education Plan for a low EMF environment in her school on the basis of her EHS symptoms.
The Executive Forward Plan report identified that equalities will be considered by ensuring that the handsets reach a wide spectrum of residents.
However, the impact of the trials on the group of residents with Electrohypersensitivity (EHS) has not been identified as an issue of equality.
Local resident Fiona Williams, who lives with EHS, commented: “For those of us who already suffer debilitating headaches, nausea and other symptoms while in the city centre with the existing coverage, this trial will make the city an effective no-go zone. 5G small cells will also use the higher gigahertz range which is proven to be harmful to insects such as bees as well as other wildlife – at a time of ecological crisis, this is the last thing we should be doing.”
The January 2024 ERP report assured Councillor Roper that ‘An equalities impact assessment will be completed upon commencement of the project’. However, the scope of this assessment remains unclear.
Notice Filed with Council
Karen Churchill and Neil McDougall, author of the notice filed with the Council, have this warning:
‘If this is Bath’s future, we want to know that all adverse consequences have been taken properly into account and guarded against, before ‘bottom-line’ financial inducements from the Government dictate what is in the public interest. At the end of the day, the future may be proven unjustifiably risky.’
A 5G Bath?
Following the filing by Karen and Neil, a Rally for Sanity was held in Bath on July 7th.
A crowd, over 100 at times during the afternoon, gathered on Sunday afternoon to hear speakers sharing information about the wider implications of smart cities beyond faster downloads, and to express discontent about the fact that local residents and businesses living and working near the masts have not been informed.
“Risk Perception” vs Health and Environmental Impacts
The Executive Forward Plan (EFP) report identified the risks of the project as being about ‘communications and perception of risk concerns’ rather than addressing the potential health and environmental impacts themselves. The report claims to follow central government guidance, while recognising the likelihood of public opposition.
‘We refer to both UK Government (Gov.uk) and OFCOM research and guidance which provides clear evidence that the technology is safe, however we expect there to be a vocal opposition to this project.’
A ‘certificate of lawfulness’ has been granted and campaigners are waiting for a substantive response.
On Friday 14th June Councillor Roper was asked to confirm that:
i) the Council’s enactment of public consultation concerning the public health/environmental consequences of the project will be made subject to objective, transparent, non-discriminatory and proportionate criteria
ii) the Council accepts that it is a European Electronic Communications Code (EECC) competent authority for the purposes of its management of the ONE WORD 5G Mobile Network Pilot project,
iii) the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, and the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology will be consulted to confirm Bath & North East Somerset Council’s status as an EECC competent authority formally, and conclusively,
and that,
iv) public consultations on public health/environmental considerations relating to the ONE WORD 5G Mobile Network Pilot project will be conducted by the Bath and North East Somerset Planning Policy Team.
Follow and support the case here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/admin-fees-for-litigants-in-person?qid=a9e74611eeba49d5eaca945a6c404e9a