Action Alert
Credit: Green Party
Please email or write to the Minister of the Environment opposing the proposed National Environmental Standard for Telecommunications Facilities which would allow your local telephone pole to look like this -
1. The proposed standard would allow cellular and wireless phone equipment to be added to practically any power pole in New Zealand.
2. There would be no need for the telecommunications companies to obtain planning permission or resource consent to do this, or even to let you know what new equipment they have installed on a pole near your house.
3. Local residents and local councils would have to take the telecommunications companies to court if they wanted to oppose having equipment on a power pole. And if local residents think there’s too much radiation coming from the equipment, they’ll need to prove it – in court, at their own cost.
4. There are no restrictions on how many antennas can be added to a single pole, so Telecom, Vodafone, Telstra and every other company can each add their own equipment.
5. There is no obligation for the telecommunications companies to remove outdated and rusting equipment from power poles, even if they’re no longer using it.
6. There are no restrictions on the uses companies could make of wireless technology on telephone poles, opening up new and unwelcome innovations such as private sector street surveillance.
7. There is growing concern internationally about the long-term health effects of Wi-Fi technology - but there is no requirement for telecommunications companies to take health effects into account when they install any new technology near to where you live or work
8. While Telecom and Vodafone have agreed to a "no cellular masts in school grounds" protocol, there is nothing in the proposed standard that stops them putting the same equipment on a power pole outside the school gate - and new cellular and wireless companies may decide not to abide by the protocol.
9. These standards are being proposed by the Ministry for the Environment! These rules would bypass the Resource Management Act and undermine our existing rights to be consulted on the installation of telecommunication equipment.
If you oppose this, please write or email Hon. David Parker, Acting Minister for the Environment, and urge him to scrap the proposal and to consult widely with the public about it.
His contact details are: Hon David Parker, Minister for the Environment, Parliament Buildings, PO Box 18-041, Wellington. Email: dparker@ministers.govt.nz
1. The proposed standard would allow cellular and wireless phone equipment to be added to practically any power pole in New Zealand.
2. There would be no need for the telecommunications companies to obtain planning permission or resource consent to do this, or even to let you know what new equipment they have installed on a pole near your house.
3. Local residents and local councils would have to take the telecommunications companies to court if they wanted to oppose having equipment on a power pole. And if local residents think there’s too much radiation coming from the equipment, they’ll need to prove it – in court, at their own cost.
4. There are no restrictions on how many antennas can be added to a single pole, so Telecom, Vodafone, Telstra and every other company can each add their own equipment.
5. There is no obligation for the telecommunications companies to remove outdated and rusting equipment from power poles, even if they’re no longer using it.
6. There are no restrictions on the uses companies could make of wireless technology on telephone poles, opening up new and unwelcome innovations such as private sector street surveillance.
7. There is growing concern internationally about the long-term health effects of Wi-Fi technology - but there is no requirement for telecommunications companies to take health effects into account when they install any new technology near to where you live or work
8. While Telecom and Vodafone have agreed to a "no cellular masts in school grounds" protocol, there is nothing in the proposed standard that stops them putting the same equipment on a power pole outside the school gate - and new cellular and wireless companies may decide not to abide by the protocol.
9. These standards are being proposed by the Ministry for the Environment! These rules would bypass the Resource Management Act and undermine our existing rights to be consulted on the installation of telecommunication equipment.
If you oppose this, please write or email Hon. David Parker, Acting Minister for the Environment, and urge him to scrap the proposal and to consult widely with the public about it.
His contact details are: Hon David Parker, Minister for the Environment, Parliament Buildings, PO Box 18-041, Wellington. Email: dparker@ministers.govt.nz