TETRA FIGHT CHELSEA BOSS USES SYSTEM IN SIBERIA Brendan Montague Monday May 3, 2004 The Argus BILLIONAIRE Roman Abramovich signalled his opposition to a new radio mast near his £12 million Sussex home after thousands of handsets used for a similar system were bought by his Russian oil firm. An aide to the richest man in Britain lobbied for a Tetra mast near his 424-acre estate to be ripped out because of potential health risks. But The Argus can reveal that two years earlier Sibneft, in which Mr Abramovich is a major shareholder, bought 6,000 Tetra handsets for his Siberian workers. Dean Hall, who manages the Chelsea owner's Sussex estate at Midhurst, formally raised his boss's concerns after O2 Airwave installed a mast at Fyning Hill, nearby. Campaigners claim Tetra, a digital network which will carry signals from police radios, causes sickness among people who live near its masts and the radio waves travel at the same frequency as signals from the brain and can cause headaches, nosebleeds and even cancer. Mr Hall had told The Argus: "Mr Abramovich is concerned for the health of his employees." The Russian made his fortune from Sibneft when it was privatised by the Kremlin, holding £5.3 billion in shares. In 2002, Sibneft became the first Russian public utility to order the Tetra radios. It bought 6,000 handsets for staff keeping watch over oil supply lines in Siberia. A spokesman for Mr Abramovich said workers in Russia had nothing to fear from the masts and handsets. He said: "The health issues with Tetra are specifically related to the pulse system. England is the only country in the world that uses that bandwidth. "The ones used here in Russia have not raised the health issues that those in England have. "If there are concerns about these handsets, we will have to look into it."   Terror of Tetra masts IT WAS the dead of night when a small team of men crept into a secluded woodland. There was complete silence and the group tried to make as little noise as possible. But these were not undercover SAS troops operating under enemy lines. The workmen were putting up the latest Tetra radio tower at Forge Farm, near Rogate village, West Sussex. Masts are now being installed across the county to supply a new radio communications system for Sussex Police. Protesters say the workmen arrived at dawn to begin laying concrete foundations. By the time residents knew what was happening, the mast was already in place. But word spread through the village and an allnight vigil was organised to prevent BT engineers from laying power cables to the mast. Campaign The company responsible, MM02 Airwave, has admitted its staff were sent to the spot late at night in January so people living close by would not become aware of the new mast until it was too late. The company also confirmed that during the protests it had no planning permission for the Tetra tower. The mast was eventually removed from the beauty spot because of the lack of power lines. The anti-Tetra campaign in Sussex has been the most successful and has delayed the project by six months. But protesters expect the workmen to return in the coming weeks to replace the mast. MMO2 Airwave has won an appeal against the decision of Chichester District Council to stop the mast and can now go ahead with the work with the full support of the law. The skirmish in the woods is over but the campaign to stop Tetra continues. Those opposed to the masts say Tetra radio signals interfere with the human brainıs own signals and can cause devastating illnesses. Some say they have suffered headaches, nose bleeds and sleeplessness. There are also fears about longterm illnesses, including cancer, all strongly contested by the company. MMO2 Airwave is determined to get the Tetra system working as soon as possible and has been installing masts without permission. Sneaky Vivienne Coleshill, 60, from Rogate, took part in the all-night vigils. The retired secretary said: "This was just bad behaviour and sneaky. "It was unlawful and they had no right to do it." However, the Planning Inspectorate has overturned the district council's decision to refuse planning permission. Sam Howes, council deputy chief executive, said: "We're very disappointed with the inspector's decision. "The council made its decision based upon conserving and enhancing the beauty of the area, which is designated an area of outstanding natural beauty. "The public concern regarding the perceived health risks were forcefully argued by many residents but the inspector was unconvinced by either argument." The tactics of MMO2 Airwave also caused uproar in Bognor Regis when a Tetra mast was installed near the town centre. Dominic Reynolds, 44, spent two months fighting to get the mast removed from his shop near the town centre. Engineers will arrive at the Reynolds Depository building in Station Road this week to remove the equipment, which the firm claims has already been switched off. The furniture shop owner has turned down £1,750 every year from the company because of health concerns concerning Tetra. He said: "They did not tell me it was a Tetra mast and until it was here, I was not even aware of what Tetra was. "It was not explained to me at the time that the mast was controversial. "I was concerned about all the health issues and I've had a lot of people writing to me. "We've been in the town for 150 years and we don't want to be associated with anything causing a lot of health concerns." Hoodwink Arun councillor Paul Wells has been pushing for the firm to remove the Tetra mast from the Reynolds building. The 30-year-old businessman has disputed claims from the company that the mast has been turned off. He said: "I was on top of the Safeway car park with an engineer and we tested the mast and it was still operational. "There have been all sorts of problems with masts being put up without applications, which concerns us greatly." Protesters also accuse MM02 Airwave of forcing through a mast at Arundel station. They claim a huge public consultation dealing with a proposed mast on the A27 through the town was used to hoodwink opponents. While objections were being drawn up, an antennae was quietly installed on an existing mast near the station. John O'Brien has led the Protect Sussex from Tetra campaign and was a regular at the Fyning Hill protests. The retired airport consultant claimed MMO2 Airwave had ignored people's concerns and shown no regard for normal planning procedures. He said: "They were determined to get a mast in that area. "This was simply an exercise in quasi-consultation to lull people into a false sense of security." The move came after three failed attempts to erect a Tetra mast in the town. Arundel town councillor Paul Dendle fought to see the antennae removed. He said: "I do condemn MM02 Airwave. They were refused planning so they added a Tetra antennae to one of their existing MMO2 masts." Arun District Council confirmed the antennae fell under permitted development and did not need planning permission, leaving opponents powerless to act. Forceful Across Sussex, MM02 has to install more than 70 masts before the system can go live and be used by Sussex Police. The national contract for Tetra is costing £3 billion for all 44 police forces. The bulk of the money will be raised from the police precept on council tax or cuts to other parts of the service. So far, 35 police forces are now using Tetra but Sussex will not be using the service until the summer. Just five more masts are needed in Sussex and the delay has led to the company using more forceful tactics to get the towers up and working. A spokesman from MM02 Airwave said: "The cause of the delay is planning failure where we would have expected to win. "The delay is because of the concerns that have been raised by people, particularly in the west of the county. "This is not how we would normally want to operate but in some cases the time of the mast acquisitions has put us in a difficult position. "We do take advice from police and where we believe there will be direct action, it's more logical to build masts when there is less people around. "But there is a limit to how subtle you can be about putting up a structure that is 15 to 20 metres high."   Case study HAIRDRESSER Mandee Keeling lives in Southover Road near Bognor Regis town centre. She believes a Tetra mast at the Reynolds Depository building in Station Road is the cause of headaches she has been suffering from. The 43-year-old mother has become increasingly concerned the waves from the mast are also making her young son ill. The motheroftwo has now joined Bognor Against Tetra and is keeping a diary of the suspected effects of Tetra on her family. She said: "Having spent the last few weeks being very ill indeed, my family and I are now experiencing light relief. "We have spent the last few weeks suffering from totally unexplained headaches, we have felt huge pressure in our ears that makes you hold your head in anguish. "My small son has been suffering massive nosebleeds ­ 14 in so many days. "We have felt sometimes sick, listless and so disorientated that very often we do not want to move our heads at all. "We have been able to go to sleep at night but find our sleep is so unreplenishing that we all feel like we are hungover in the morning. "We have had blood tests and there appears to be nothing wrong with us to explain our plight. "I have been out of my mind with worry about my son and have been learning about hertz and mega hertz until my brain hurts. "On Monday we awoke to find, for the first time for about eight weeks, we had slept so well that I burst into tears of relief to see the smile on my little boy's face. "Steadily then, our strength has increased. "Only a disorientation feeling is left. "Had they turned the Tetra mast down? No, not so because we still feel something but it is not as bad! "The time had come for me to go to Tesco's for our week's shopping so we set off. "When we approached the car park, our ears suddenly filled with pressure again. "My son complained of the first headache all week. "I realised that I had the same gnawing pain in my head that I had not felt for the week too. We walked around Tesco and became confused, disorientated and our heads were banging. "We did not feel like staying there any longer and rushed quickly home. "Our symptoms were relieved within one hour of being home. And we have been told there are Tetra masts at Tesco. How odd is that? "How can Bognor Regis be a healthy seaside town, when, in fact, it is covered by low-level radiation?"