Plans to upgrade a mobile phone tower located at the school grounds of Balgowlah Boys Campus have been met with opposition from a group of parents citing concerns about any associated health risks.
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In 2020, a group of parents approached the Bally Boys P&C, concerned about the fact that the school had a mobile phone tower on the premises. The tower, which is located metres away from classrooms, was built by Optus in 1993, with an approval from the Department of Education.
In 2013, the lease agreement was renewed for 20 more years. In return for the use of the land for the tower, the school was paid $750,000 (or $37,500 per year). Optus, in turn, sublets the space to the other mobile phone providers.
The parents and citizen association at Balgowlah Boys, led by President Colin Cardwell, announced in 2020 that they had decided not to pursue the removal of the tower. If the lease was broken, the school would have had to pay back around $450,000.
“While the money is essential for the school, which is considered by many to be underfunded, the health of the boys is, without question, much more important. So determining the actual health risks was a priority for the P&C,” the P&C said.
“To better understand how we could get what we needed, we approached a professional survey company to explore the methodologies required to survey accurately. They explained that the only real way to achieve what we wanted was to take a random sample of around 200 households and survey them by phone. This approach would cost around $8000,” the official statement reads.
“Perhaps that money could be better spent on the school? Especially when you consider that even with the majority of the community in favour of removing the tower, our power is still limited,” they added.
This time, Telstra is proposing to add three 5G panels onto the tower. However, the P&C confirmed it had no position yet regarding the additional panels and did not make a submission, which already closed last week of June 2021.
Is 5G Bad For Our Health?
Before 5G was proposed for Australia, there were already many appeals and petitions to stop it, with concerns that the radiation transmission from it would have an impact on people’s health and the environment.
But Australia’s Chief Medical Officer Professor Brendan Murphy reassured the community that 5G technology is safe. He said there is no evidence that telecommunication technologies, such as 5G, cause adverse health impacts.
“This position is supported by health authorities in Australia – such as the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) – and around the world, such as the World Health Organization (WHO),” said Professor Murphy.
According to Professor Murphy, the radio waves to which the general public is exposed from telecommunications are not hazardous to human health.
“To ensure the public remains protected, ARPANSA established limits for EME through a Standard. This Standard is designed to protect people from exposure to radio waves. Limits are set well below the levels where there is evidence of some biological effects such as tissue heating,” he said.
