Concerned citizens say ‘no’ to proposed Maple Ridge cell tower location
Residents living in the Whonnock area of Maple Ridge say they were shocked when they received a letter in the mail last month telling them about a proposed cell tower in their neighbourhood.
“It was just like, ‘what, they can’t do that can they?’” said Janet Foster, who has lived on 110th Avenue in Whonnock for 38 years.
The proposed Telus tower, to be built by Alcatel-Lucent Canada, would be placed at 27649 110th Avenue, which is adjacent to Janet’s property, and she did not want the structure going up without a fight.
A group called Whonnock ACT (Against Cell Tower) was formed, and they have been fighting the proposal ever since. Part of the battle they faced was learning about the process to build one of these towers, and the steps corporations take to inform residents.
Janet’s daughter Margo called the experience “intellectually and emotionally exhausting.”
“We have been trying our best to get information and attention from Telus, Alcatel-Lucent, Industry Canada, our Member of Parliament, our MLAs, and our local government,” she said. “None of us has expertise necessary to deal with the technical aspects of this kind of proposal, or the experience to know how to fight big corporations and governments.”
Residents told Global BC that they feel they are trying to be taken advantage of, and that their concerns about the tower are not being heard.
“It’s stunning to think [Industry Canada] can say that health, environment, and property values don’t count,” said Janet.
Industry Canada said they require “all all radiocommunication and broadcasting operators to comply with Health Canada's Safety Code 6 to ensure the safety of Canadians.”
But that’s not enough for Janet. “There’s a concern about water here too,” she said. “We’re all houses on wells.”
Neighbour Brenda Ingram, who has lived in the area for five years, agrees with Janet, saying her main priority is health issues. “Then we were concerned about the environment,” she said. “There was our own water, the fish, and the wildlife, questions about whether we live in a flight path.”
“Industry Canada said there would be no impact to our property values,” she added, but as she said her family sold their former home in Maple Ridge to move out to the rural area, they are now unsure of what to do. “We don’t want to take a risk with our four and five years olds [grandchildren],” she said.
Shawn Hall from Telus said they were surprised by the response to the opposition to the proposed tower, and as a result Telus has decided to “take a step back.”
“What we’ve decided to do in this case is to take a step back and temporarily hold off and continue some consultation and take another look at the area and see if this is the best site or if there’s alternatives,” he said. “Unfortunately that might mean, if we’re not able to get a tower up and running in the next year or two, the area will start seeing degraded service as increased demand outstrips our current capacity.”
Ingram said she understands the need for the towers, but that’s not the point.
“We’re not against cell towers,” she said, “we get it. We all have cell phones, we just don’t want [the towers] to be in residential areas.”
The District of Maple Ridge does not have a policy around cell towers, and as a result the process just follows Industry Canada’s default policy.
Councilor Corisa Bell said that is part of the problem.
“I believe we need to have a discussion around that to have a policy in place,” she said. “As well as for the citizens to know that we have something in place.”
Bell said the process around cell towers is a “little out of the District’s hands”, but council has sent a letter to Alcatel-Lucent outlining their concerns as well and that letter is filled with the need for more assessments done on the area, and many unanswered questions.
Those questions will hopefully be answered now the proposal has been put on hold.
“I feel sad to realize there are people who care more about money than their homes,” said Margo. “I feel disgust and contempt toward those who would seek to destroy the character of this neighbourhood.”
© Shaw Media Inc., 2012. All rights reserved.
Read it on Global News: Global BC | Concerned citizens say ‘no’ to proposed Maple Ridge cell tower location
http://www.globaltvbc.com/concerned+citizens+say+no+to+proposed+maple+ridge+cell+tower+location/6442644431/story.html
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