NEWS
Hondarribia to regulate the installation of phone masts by introducing a by-law
Hondarribia town council are working on a draft by-law for the installation of phone masts in the town. When they approve the said by-law, it will become one of the few Basque localities to introduce their own by-law in order to regulate the installation of mobile phone masts and such like.
Ion Elizalde, Deputy Mayor and Town Councillor for the Environment and Agenda 21, has given details of the town council’s plans in relation to the installation of the masts at a press conference. According to Elizalde, the by-law "will force telecom operators to detail their plans for deploying the mobile phone masts in the town by outlining a long term ten-year plan". After a municipal technical analysis of the situation and having assessed the operators under consideration, the town council will tell "the companies where they should erect such equipment".
The objective of the government team is "that the deployment of phone masts and all equipment emitting electromagnetic radiation, which is what will be regulated under this by-law, is to be conducted in a controlled, regulated manner and governed by a clear set of criteria, obliging the operators to share space and take into consideration the aesthetics of the surroundings, from an urban point of view, and consider environmental impact, setting specific limits on power emissions".
Elizalde has pointed out that "state legislation is that which governs telecommunications and has established, by Royal Decree 2001, maximum power emissions of 41 watts per square metre for the masts". Nonetheless the data published on measurements taken between 2008 and 2009 indicate that emissions in Hondarribia are between 0.1 and 1.5 watts, far below the legal limit.
The Town Councillor for the Environment has emphasized that, although they have yet to specify a figure for maximum power emissions, this will be "well below" the 41 watts per metre established under state legislation. Likewise, he has also stressed that the legislation no will not allow for masts to the erected in "places like schools and hospitals".
The document is now in the hands of the political parties for discussion, and the town council expect to debate the matter and approve in plenary by the end of the year.
