KEVIN HUGHES THE controversial rule restricting the erection of communications masts within 1km of dwellings in Kerry is to be re-examined by councillors following calls to review the situation.

"The 1km Rule in relation to the erection of telephone masts in Kerry is not working," Cllr Seamus Cosaí MacGearailt told a meeting of the council on Monday. "Will Kerry County Council look to see if there is a better way to deal with the issue, having regard to the residents who may be concerned if there was a proposal to erect a mast near them?" he asked.

Cllr MacGearailt said that unless the rule is abolished Kerry will face 'serious difficulty in rolling-out broadband'. He added he had first hand experience of the difficulty surrounding the contentious rule in Annascaul where locals are protesting the erection of a mast in the village. Permission for the mast had originally been refused by the council under the 1km Rule but this was over-ruled by An Bord Pleanála.

As no dissenting voices were heard in response to the Dingle councillor's contribution, County Manager Tom Curran sought, later on in the meeting, to rescind the rule. However, councillors then decided to put the matter back for further debate.

Council management reiterated their opposition to the rule, saying that since the rule was included in the 2003 County Development Plan the council had received 75 applications for masts. Of these, 38 have been refused planning permission and 25 of the refusals have subsequently been overturned by An Bord Pleanála.

"It is clearly the view of management, as enunciated during the County Development Plan review,, that this clause should be removed from the plan. The rule is also directly affecting the roll-out of broadband in the county and the provision of modern and reliable communications for the emergency services," they said.

"This provision is a very crude instrument as it takes any deciding role from the planners on any application for a mast once it is clear that the restriction applies to such an application. In such cases the application is not subject to the same scrutiny as other applications and no additional information is sought from the developers as the outcome of the application is inevitable," councillors heard.

Meanwhile, a protest at Coomasaharan, Glenbeigh, on Friday, which involved the burning of a mock mast, has highlighted the anger felt in the local community concerning Hutchinson 3G's latest application for a mast in the area.

Locals say they are concerned at the long term effects of exposure to electromagnetic radiation from communications masts and feel their concerns are largely being ignored with almost a dozen applications from various companies in the area in just three years.

"Nobody has carried out experiments on long term exposure to electromagnetic radiation and when we met recently with 3G they were unable to provide us with medical evidence to the contrary," local campaigner Clara Leahy stated.

The latest application attracted 74 objections and Kerry County Council again applied the 1km Rule to refuse the application. This decision was appealed to An Bord Pleanála and so far 30 letters of objection have been written, all of which will be hand delivered to An Bord Pleanála's Dublin office on Friday.

Stating that there will be a legal submission with the latest objections, Ms Leahy said that Kerry County Council did not go far enough when refusing Hutchinson 3G's application.

"The council should have invalidated the application as, in our view, it was in breach of guidelines and regulations. Every time the council refuses an application, we still have to lodge submissions with An Bord Pleanála and that is costing the local comunity up to €2,500," she said

- DÓNAL NOLAN AND