Plans ride roughshod over cellphone, Wi-Fi health concerns

The Green Party has rejected the rushed timeframe for the Environment Ministry’s controversial proposed National Standards for Telecommunications Facilities, and is calling for the public to be offered the same timeframe to make submissions on the proposals as the telecommunications industry has enjoyed.

“I am appalled to find the Environment Ministry is proposing to strip away the public’s rights under the RMA to be consulted on the installation of new telecommunication equipment, even when firms try and locate them right next to homes,” Greens Health Spokesperson Sue Kedgley says.

“The proposed standards open the door for any new form of telecommunication technology to be installed in a broad catchment of qualifying areas – including on the road reserves outside the homes of many New Zealanders - without any consultation or obligation to inform the nearby residents, even if there are specific short or long term health risks associated with the particular technology.

“Submissions are scheduled to close tomorrow on these standards. The Environment Ministry seems to have been captured by telecommunications firms, which have had two whole years of privileged access to the plans, while the public have been given only a few weeks to comment.

“The process fails to acknowledge the growing body of opinion questioning the safety of radio frequency emissions, and the potential health risks of Wi-Fi and cell phone technology. Amazingly, the proposed standards also put the onus on community members – and not on the provider, as you’d expect - to prove that a mast, mobile phone transmitter or antenna attachment is being operated ethically and within the law.

“Finally, the proposed standards neglect the Government’s responsibility to protect the public health of New Zealanders, and especially of children. They only way forward is to start again, and give the public the same time as the industry has had to consider the full implications of these alarming proposals,” Ms Kedgley says.