Who wants it?

LAST Saturday (30-10-99) residents met in Decker Park (Brighton) to voice their concerns about the Optus tower, which is being constructed at 94 23rd Avenue, Brighton, You've never heard about it before? Well this is not surprising. A notice was put on the Deagon Deviation highway where motorists are doing 100km an hour - hardly the place for a quiet, reflective read.

 It looks as though the residents of Brighton are about to be shafted by one of the multinationals - perhaps aided and abetted by the Brisbane City Council.

When I asked why a tower was about to be built I was told that motorists on the Houghton Highway who are foolhardy enough to be using their mobile phones often lose the signal.

What a tragedy! How many accidents I wonder have been caused by inconsiderate drivers talking into their high-tech toys at the expense of every other motorist's nerves and patience?

 There have been many fears about the microwave frequencies of mobile phones and their vile towers being the causes of cancers. Though no doubt Optus would pooh-pooh such a proposition, there has been no proof that they do not cause cancers.

 If these frequencies do cause cancers in people, what about the obvious dangers to wildlife and domestic animals? There are several farms near the site of the tower. Is the small businessman once again to be bulldozed into the ground by the insatiable greed of the multinationals? It is also too close for any sort of comfort or reassurance to two primary schools, St Kieran's and Brighton State School.

 Are we prepared to gamble with the health of our children going along with the idea that it may not be a danger to their health because Optus says so?

 How many of the people living in the Brighton-Sandgate-Shorncliffe area have chosen this locality to live in because it is a beautiful, natural environment ... ? Do we want a dangerous eyesore dominating our once tranquil skyline?

 It is time to act before we too become just another series of statistics or notches on the multinationals' bedheads. Complain to your council, complain to Optus, junk your mobile phones which I've been told slice three hours off your life every time you use them - and do it now.

 -Cheryl Jorgensen, Brighton (3-11-99)

Bayside Star 11 Nov 99 Mailbox. page 4

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