Concerns over plans for 20m 5G phone mast in Horsham

Telecom infrastructure company C K Hutchinson Networks UK has submitted an application to Horsham District Council to put up the 20m monopole and equipment on a grass verge by the B2195 Crawley Road in Roffey.

The company says that the ‘next generation’ 5G mast will bring ‘public benefit in terms of the mobile services it will provide.’

And, while some people in Horsham are expressing support for the 5G mast, others are raising health and safety concerns. One resident in Crawley Road called for people to be consulted over a wider area before a decision is made.

And another, in a letter of objection to Horsham Council, called for an alternative site to be found in a less densely populated area, saying: “There is actually no clear consensus on the health implications for 5G masts. There is no specific testing on the more dangerous 5G frequencies. There are also copious and extended lists of studies suggesting they are not safe, and certainly not proven to be safe.”

But mobile phone companies say that the frequencies used for mobile technologies operate in compliance with national or international EMF exposure guidelines, which

cover all frequencies currently used by 5G and under consideration for 5G.

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They say radio signals used by mobile technologies ‘are extensively researched and have been for decades.’

And they have some support. One Horsham resident, backing the application in a letter to the council said: “Mobile reception has been dreadful in Roffey for the last few months. If this will improve it, that would be great.”