More phone firms are challenging councils over mobile masts

Masts up to 15m tall can be constructed without express permission from planners under the current rules.

Phone firms would have to show masts were not eyesores nor posed a health risk.

The Mobile Operators' Association says research on health concerns is reassuring and extra regulation would not address residents' worries.

Health concerns

The Tories insist their proposed changes would not prevent the erection of all masts in future but would ensure they are not badly sited.

Their call for full planning permission rules for all mobile phone mast developments echoes a call from the all-party parliamentary mobile group earlier this year.

Many of the masts about which there has been concern are already subject to full planning Mike Dolan Mobile Operators' Association

Current planning rules mean councils can consider health worries in principle but say they should not take them into account if the proposed mast meets safety guidelines.

The rules also say it is important to prevent visual intrusion by masts, with local councils and operators working together to find the best solution for each case.

The new Tory proposals include a single planning process for deciding on all masts, including those on property owned by churches or Network Rail.

Councils would be able to take account of health concerns, such as placing masts near homes, hospitals and schools.

Local accountability

Shadow local government secretary Caroline Spelman said: "Conservatives will champion the interests of local residents and address the feelings of powerlessness and frustration experienced living under the shadow badly sited masts," she said.

"Local councillors, answerable to local residents via the ballot box, should have the final say on where they go."

The government is reviewing what development can go ahead without full planning permission but has so far made no commitment to changing the regulations on mobile phone masts.

Safety first demand

The Tories point to estimates suggesting an extra 10,000 mobile phone masts will be needed nationwide but operators suggest only another 8,000 are needed.

Mike Dolan, executive director of the Mobile Operators Association, said: "Increased regulation by the imposition of full planning on all mobile phone development will do nothing to address community concerns.

"Many of the masts about which there has been concern are already subject to full planning.

"More regulation will add a major burden to local planners and slow down all planning applications."

'Balance'

Mr Dolan said a study by the National Radiological Protection Board had said exposure levels from living near masts were "extremely low", with the overall evidence suggesting they were unlikely to pose a health risk.

The current rules balanced delivering services to the UK's 50 million mobile phone users and allowing local residents a voice, added Mr Dolan.

A Labour Party spokeswoman said the Tories would add bureaucracy at a time when some councils were failing to meet efficiency targets on planning.

She added: "We've given local councils greater powers to hold full public consultations on phone masts, by allowing them longer to deal with applications and increasing the fees for the phone companies.

"The current law also allows phone companies to build on existing sites so as to minimise the damage to the environment, which the Tory plans would jeopardise."

Liberal Democrat MP Phil Willis, chairman of the all-party parliamentary mobile group, accused the Tories of playing politics with the issue.

Among Lib Dem demands is that the precautionary principle should be used so beams from masts do not fall on schools, playing fields or hospitals.

"The public should not be held to ransom by a government that has taken �22bn from the mobile phone companies and is frightened to stand up to them over this issue," said Mr Willis.