Ampthill Against Aerials

Campaign History

23rd June 1999  Inaugural meeting held following a letter from the school about the Orange mast that had been erected on the drill tower of Ampthill Fire Station.  A leaflet drop was organised with a poster to display in windows to show support.  Letters were written to the Chief Fire Officer, Education Department, and our local M.P. Jonathan Sayeed.  A petition was organised which obtained 1533 signatures. 

2nd July 1999  First public meeting at the Wingfield Club.

8th July 1999  Letters of support received from Jonathan Sayeed.

13th July 1999  Second public meeting in the Main Hall of Russell School.

5th August 1999  Special meeting of the Bedfordshire and Luton Combined Fire Authority.  A resolution was passed "that the Combined Fire Authority does not consider it appropriate to proceed with the siting and commissioning of any aerials at the Ampthill Fire Station until the Department for Education and Employment investigation has been completed and the Combined Fire Authority has considered the outcome".

7th September 1999  Letter from the Department for Education and Employment to the Chairman of the Bedfordshire and Luton Combined Fire Authority.  The letter explains that the Government has set up an Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones, chaired by Sir William Stewart FRS FRSE.  

15th September 1999  Meeting of the Bedfordshire and Luton Combined Fire Authority.  A resolution was passed "To carry out a feasibility study for each station with regard to the location of schools and then consider each application on its merit with regard to that study".

12th October 1999  The Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones web site was created.  This contains the Terms of Reference and Membership of the group,  a report on the Programme of Work to Date,  and the Reports on the Open Public Meetings which have been held.  See the links page.

18th November 1999  Mid Beds District Council meeting was adjourned to hear presentations from Orange, The Health and Safety Executive, and Friends of the Earth.  Jo Goddard, Gary Summerfield, and Tony Foster also addressed this meeting.

 18th November 1999  Howard Stoate MP proposed Early Day Motion number 56.  This EDM notes the public concern regarding the siting of mobile phone masts and suggests that they are sited as far as possible from schools.  See the links page.

27th January 2000  The Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones held an Open Public Meeting in London which was attended by Jo Goddard and Tony Foster.  The Chairman,  Sir William Stewart,  stated that the report was on target to be produced by the end of March 2000.  We were pleased with the public debate and considerable anxiety was expressed by the majority of participants.

11th May 2000  The Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones report was published on the IEGMP web site.  A letter and relevant pages of this report have been sent to every member of the Bedfordshire and Luton Combined Fire Authority.  We expect a decision to be made at the next Bedfordshire and Luton Combined Fire Authority meeting in July.

8th June 2000  A meeting of the Bedfordshire and Luton Combined Fire Authority in Luton to hopefully make a final decision on the Ampthill mast.  We have asked to be able to participate in this meeting.  The recommendation to the Fire Authority was: That a test be conducted, at a time to be agreed with Russell Lower School, to establish the position of the "beam of greatest intensity", as suggested in the Independent Expert Group Report on Mobile Phones, and the results reported for the further consideration of Members at their next meeting.

During her speech to the Fire Authority Jo Goddard proposed the following recommendation: In view of the overwhelming public concern over the siting of this mast the precautionary principle should be adopted and the mast removed immediately.

This was proposed by Councillor Liz Ledster and seconded by Councillor Mohammed Ali.  Following an emotive debate this revised recommendation was passed unanimously.  The Fire Authority may now face legal action from Aerial Sites PLC and Orange.

4th December 2001  Pre-application letter received from GPN Acquisition acting for Hutchison 3G informing us that they intend to site a mobile phone mast on one of the floodlight pylons at Ampthill Rugby Club. See Rugby Club

22nd July 2002  The mast was removed from the Fire Station drill tower this morning. See pictures on the Aerial Removed page