Chamber
Plenary, 11 May 2000
11 May 2000 · S1 · Plenary
Item of business
Telecommunications
I welcome constituents who have travelled to the Parliament from Strathblane and who have been going through an ordeal with a mast in their area. I thank the Transport and the Environment Committee and the Stewart committee for their reports, which complement each other.
The last time that this matter was discussed in the chamber, many of us expressed great concern about the behaviour of the telecommunication companies. Since then, the situation has worsened. In my constituency, proposals to erect masts near houses and children's play areas, by the side of roads and in built-up areas have caused great anger, which has led to public demonstrations in Strathblane and Bannockburn.
In the case of Strathblane, Stirling Council was able to order the mast to be moved as it hampered drivers' vision. The bad news is that, under present planning regulations, Orange could move the mast a couple of yards further up the grass verge and there would be nothing that the council or the community could do about it—not legally, anyway. The situation in Bannockburn resulted in what a local paper referred to as the second battle of Bannockburn. The area faces the prospect of five masts being situated in the area by three companies. So much for the press releases that state that the companies are trying to work together.
As a growing number of constituents have become concerned about the siting of the masts near their homes, Stirling Council agreed to have a moratorium and not allow any masts to be erected on council land. However, that cannot be fully enforced as areas such as grass verges, which are available to the utilities, must also be available to telecommunication companies. That came as a shock to us when we heard about it last week. Stirling Council also agreed that any proposals received after the February moratorium date would be communicated to community councils. However, news of many of the masts that communities are fighting was communicated to the council in 1999. As a consequence, no prior warning has been given to the communities. No wonder that communities feel powerless, as Elaine Smith said earlier.
With masts of less than 15 m, councils can intervene only in areas of conservation or when masts placed on grass verges block drivers' vision. What can we MSPs do? What can we recommend that the Scottish Executive does? We should ask for full planning powers to be implemented with regard to all telecommunication masts. The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities believes that prior approval procedures are an unsatisfactory halfway house. We need to prepare national planning guidance that will set a framework within which local councils can work with telecommunication companies. The guidelines should be based on the precautionary principle that masts should be sited away from residential areas. As the report says, the guidance should include local flexibility to prevent masts from being placed in environmentally sensitive areas such as Bannockburn. Also, there must be more mast sharing.
If all the proposals that I have mentioned are adopted, what happens in the intervening period? Can we have a moratorium on the erection of masts? I have spoken to Sarah Boyack about that and have lodged a written question on the subject. I hope that she will say something about it in her winding-up speech.
What happens to the telecommunications masts that are already in place? The Scottish Executive could urge all the companies to reconsider the placing of masts and to think about repositioning them. We really must move on this issue, as people are sitting there with these masts, as Nick Johnston said, next to their kitchen windows. We must address that immediately.
The last time that this matter was discussed in the chamber, many of us expressed great concern about the behaviour of the telecommunication companies. Since then, the situation has worsened. In my constituency, proposals to erect masts near houses and children's play areas, by the side of roads and in built-up areas have caused great anger, which has led to public demonstrations in Strathblane and Bannockburn.
In the case of Strathblane, Stirling Council was able to order the mast to be moved as it hampered drivers' vision. The bad news is that, under present planning regulations, Orange could move the mast a couple of yards further up the grass verge and there would be nothing that the council or the community could do about it—not legally, anyway. The situation in Bannockburn resulted in what a local paper referred to as the second battle of Bannockburn. The area faces the prospect of five masts being situated in the area by three companies. So much for the press releases that state that the companies are trying to work together.
As a growing number of constituents have become concerned about the siting of the masts near their homes, Stirling Council agreed to have a moratorium and not allow any masts to be erected on council land. However, that cannot be fully enforced as areas such as grass verges, which are available to the utilities, must also be available to telecommunication companies. That came as a shock to us when we heard about it last week. Stirling Council also agreed that any proposals received after the February moratorium date would be communicated to community councils. However, news of many of the masts that communities are fighting was communicated to the council in 1999. As a consequence, no prior warning has been given to the communities. No wonder that communities feel powerless, as Elaine Smith said earlier.
With masts of less than 15 m, councils can intervene only in areas of conservation or when masts placed on grass verges block drivers' vision. What can we MSPs do? What can we recommend that the Scottish Executive does? We should ask for full planning powers to be implemented with regard to all telecommunication masts. The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities believes that prior approval procedures are an unsatisfactory halfway house. We need to prepare national planning guidance that will set a framework within which local councils can work with telecommunication companies. The guidelines should be based on the precautionary principle that masts should be sited away from residential areas. As the report says, the guidance should include local flexibility to prevent masts from being placed in environmentally sensitive areas such as Bannockburn. Also, there must be more mast sharing.
If all the proposals that I have mentioned are adopted, what happens in the intervening period? Can we have a moratorium on the erection of masts? I have spoken to Sarah Boyack about that and have lodged a written question on the subject. I hope that she will say something about it in her winding-up speech.
What happens to the telecommunications masts that are already in place? The Scottish Executive could urge all the companies to reconsider the placing of masts and to think about repositioning them. We really must move on this issue, as people are sitting there with these masts, as Nick Johnston said, next to their kitchen windows. We must address that immediately.
In the same item of business
The Presiding Officer (Sir David Steel):
NPA
The next item of business is a debate on motion S1M-803, in the name of Mr Andy Kerr, on behalf of the Transport and the Environment Committee, on that commi...
Mr Andy Kerr (East Kilbride) (Lab):
Lab
I am delighted to open this debate on behalf of the Transport and the Environment Committee. I thank my colleagues for their hard work in producing a thought...
Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP):
SNP
I am pleased to speak in this debate. The first report of the Transport and the Environment Committee is the result of a great deal of investigation. Committ...
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Patricia Ferguson):
Lab
I call Nick Johnston to open for the Conservatives. You have eight minutes, Mr Johnston.
Nick Johnston (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con):
Con
I will try to keep to my time.I stand here this morning as a warning to every young researcher or putative candidate to Parliament—never lodge a members' bus...
Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD):
LD
I am grateful to Nick Johnston for clarifying the Conservative front-bench situation. For a terrible moment, those of us who enjoy transport and the environm...
The Deputy Presiding Officer:
Lab
We move to the open part of the debate. Members will have four minutes.
Elaine Smith (Coatbridge and Chryston) (Lab):
Lab
I am particularly pleased to take part in this debate, as I have been rather vocal on the subject of telecommunications developments since about June last ye...
Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP):
SNP
I would like to begin by congratulating the Transport and the Environment Committee on its work and on its report. I think that Andy Kerr did a good job of p...
Dr Sylvia Jackson (Stirling) (Lab):
Lab
I welcome constituents who have travelled to the Parliament from Strathblane and who have been going through an ordeal with a mast in their area. I thank the...
Euan Robson (Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (LD):
LD
I, too, welcome this report, with the important development that it proposes, and the Stewart report that was published today. There will be widespread agree...
Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab):
Lab
As a member of the Transport and the Environment Committee, I thank my fellow committee members and the staff of the committee for the tremendous amount of w...
Dr Richard Simpson (Ochil) (Lab):
Lab
I wonder if Des McNulty would agree that particular attention should be paid to masts near schools. Bruce Crawford shares my concern about the situation in K...
Des McNulty:
Lab
I am sympathetic to that view and that some of the income coming to local authorities in site rental should be used in that way.Monitoring health risks is a ...
Mr Murray Tosh (South of Scotland) (Con):
Con
I associate myself with all the positive remarks that have been made about the work of the staff on the Transport and the Environment Committee, and I congra...
Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab):
Lab
I welcome the Stewart committee's report, which was published today, and I am pleased to see that it vindicates many of the recommendations in the Transport ...
Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green):
Green
First, I apologise to the chamber because I must leave this debate early. I have a ceremony to attend at the University of Edinburgh in which I am playing a ...
Elaine Thomson (Aberdeen North) (Lab):
Lab
I am pleased to be taking part in this debate. I congratulate the Transport and the Environment Committee on a thorough and well-considered report. Telecom m...
Ian Jenkins (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD):
LD
Carlops, in my constituency, is one of the most famous of the mobile phone mast episodes, but I do not wish to go into the details of that today as we are in...
Dr Simpson:
Lab
I appreciate what the member is going through. Perhaps I can offer some help. A mast was erected in my constituency. Fortunately, it was close to a B-listed ...
Ian Jenkins:
LD
I really do not want to go into the details because there are aspects of our discussions that might involve trees, or whatever.It seems totally unacceptable ...
Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab):
Lab
I join other members in thanking sincerely the support team led by Lynn Tullis and all those who briefed us in the Transport and the Environment Committee an...
Janis Hughes (Glasgow Rutherglen) (Lab):
Lab
As a member of the Transport and the Environment Committee, I would like to echo the gratitude of my colleagues to the staff who have helped us through the i...
David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con):
Con
I do not hold myself out to have the same expertise in these matters as my colleague Nick Johnston, but I was previously employed by British Telecommunicatio...
Mr Tosh:
Con
In the light of what Mr Mundell has just said, will he comment on the recommendation in the Stewart report that no one should be encouraged to use mobile tel...
David Mundell:
Con
Mr Tosh raises a very interesting point. If regulations are introduced, they should also apply to the use of car radios, as operating a car radio has been id...
Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP):
SNP
As others such as Des McNulty have done, I put on record my thanks to the members of staff of the Transport and the Environment Committee. In many instances,...
Nick Johnston:
Con
Would Mr MacAskill be gracious enough—in the spirit of consensus that has evolved in the debate—to acknowledge that we are learning from experience, whereas ...
Mr MacAskill:
SNP
I should be happy to acknowledge that the Conservatives are learning from the past, although I would not go beyond that.The most important issue is to decide...
The Minister for Transport and the Environment (Sarah Boyack):
Lab
I listened with interest to the many excellent contributions throughout the debate. The debate has been marked by the consistently high quality of those cont...