Will antenna complainers like Carmen Lea and Ingrid Sorenson (Buzzkill: Residents shocked by cell tower proposed for rural Saanich area) forgo the benefits of modern communications like cellular telephones?
Lea should produce research showing impact on bees from radio signals at cellular frequencies, so people can check her claims. Health Canada addresses the impact on humans, research shows a negligible effect of holding a cellular telephone – a long study of various age groups was performed in Scandinavia for example.
There are gaps in cellular phone signal resulting from the rock outcrops common around here. In one area shadowed by ridges, Telus added a small cellular site giving people in southwest Saanich and adjacent areas of Esquimalt and View Royal much better service. The antenna looks like a chimney between buildings.
As for esthetics, that’s often overblown. Some people would be pleased to have better cellular telephone service at home. In any case, antennas are often camouflaged as chimneys or trees – they don’t have to be latticework towers.
Lea was offered $1,200 per month rental? Sounds good to me.
Keith Sketchley
Saanich
