Written question asked by Richard Shepherd (Conservative) on Thursday, 9 September 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 14 September 2004. It was answered by Keith Hill (Labour) on Tuesday, 14 September 2004 on behalf of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

Office of the Deputy Prime Minister

Question: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, whether, in the light of the recent statement by Sir William Stewart, Chairman of the Health Protection Agency and the National Radiation Protection Board on whether Tetra had any harmful effects, he plans to remove the permitted development rights granted to licensed telecommunications operators under the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995 (Part 24 of Schedule 2).

Answer: Mr. Shepherd: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether, in the light of the recent statement by Sir William Stewart, Chairman of the Health Protection Agency and the National Radiation Protection Board on whether Tetra had any harmful effects, he plans to remove the permitted development rights granted to licensed telecommunications operators under the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995 (Part 24 of Schedule 2). [188819] Keith Hill: The Government currently have no plans to remove the permitted development rights granted to licensed telecommunications operators under Part 24 of the "Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995". The National Radiological Protection Board's (NRPB) independent Advisory Group on Non-ionising Radiation (AGNIR) published a report on "Possible Health Effects from Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA)" in 2001. The report noted that the signals from TETRA base stations, like their mobile phone counterparts, are not pulsed. NRPB advise that there is no reason to believe that signals from TETRA base stations should be treated differently from other base stations.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 424 c1530-1W;424 c1528-9W; 188819
Session: 2003-04
Subjects: Aerials Health hazards TETRA Permitted development rights
Legislation: Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk