Bradley's Barcroft Battle

Newry and Armagh SDLP Assemblyman Dominic Bradley has vowed to continue to fight plans to erect a telecommunications mast on Doran's Hill, Barcroft following a site meeting held at the proposed location.

Mr Bradley represented the residents at the meeting with Vodafone UK and the Planning Service on Friday afternoon. The meeting was held as part of the appeals process launched by the telecommunications giant as planning permission was refused. Although all Newry representatives were notified of this meeting, only SDLP representatives turned up to stand up for Barcroft residents. Dominic Bradley initially represented the residents along with Cllr John Mc Ardle in a meeting with the planners held in Newry Arts Centre earlier this year. Subsequently planners turned down the Vodafone application prompting the company to launch an appeal. Speaking following the site meeting, Mr Bradley said there was a very clear argument against allowing this mast to be erected in such a heavily populated residential location.

"I have put that argument forward as strongly as possible," he said. "The proposed location is in very close proximity to people's and is totally against the wishes of residents as it will detract from the appearance of the area. "Common practice is to locate such equipment in non-residential areas well away from homes, a practice Vodaphone have ignored. "Newry and Mourne Council has recommended that masts should not be located less than 500m from residential properties. “One of the major concerns which people locally have is around the possible ill-effects on health of EMFs (electro-magnetic fields) emulating from telecommunications masts. It is my view that this precautionary approach should be followed in relation to this application and that Vodafone should not be granted permission to erect a mobile phone mast at the proposed location on Doran's Hill,” he added. “The residents of Barcroft can rest assured that I will continue to vigorously fight this attempt by Vodafone to walk over them,” he added. “I am determined that this project will not go ahead.”