Plan to hide antennae in mock chimneys at trendy bar

An anti-mast campaigner

WORRIED families have urged the Town Hall to spike plans to site a mobile phone mast on top of a Gospel Oak pub.
The Monkey Chews bar, a cult hangout tucked away behind a council estate in Queen’s Crescent, is at the centre of the controversy.
Vodafone UK wants to place mock chimneys on top of the bar in which reception-boosting antennae will be hidden.
The design has been drawn up to minimise objections from Camden Council’s planning department, which will find it difficult to reject the proposal on aesthetic grounds.
But a petition has already been signed by hundreds of residents, while protest letters are piling up at the Town Hall.
Joan Stally, chairwoman of St Silas Residents Association, said: “It is right next to a children’s play area. Any radiation will affect them. They play there from eight in the morning to ten at night.”
Councillor Jill Fraser, the Liberal Democrat challenger to Labour’s Hampstead and Highgate MP Glenda Jackson at the next general election, said: “The concern for residents is that the mast will be on such a low building – and there are masts all over the area. I am supporting the residents.”
Labour ward councillor Roy Shaw, who also opposes the application, said: “When we talk about crime, we take into account people’s fear of crime. The same approach should be taken here. There may not be any health risks, I don’t know. But people have a fear there may be and that should be taken into account.”
Protester Margaret Looney said: “We are extremely concerned about the health implications. Our daughter is 27. She is finishing treatment for breast cancer and stays with us frequently, along with her daughter.
“We are really worried that we are putting her at further risk by having antennae in so close proximity to our home and our three-year-old granddaughter.”
Protesters had planned to hand over copies of petitions and letters to the Monkey Chews bar management on Tuesday afternoon but, with the pub closed, they were forced to post them through the letterbox.
Pub bosses have failed to return calls from the New Journal.
Vodafone UK confirmed an application had been submitted. Its bid is unlikely to be considered by elected councillors and instead will be delegated to planning officials.