Brian Wilford \/ The Star
\nJanuary 29, 2015 12:00 AM<\/p>\n
The District 69 school board is opposing the construction of a cell tower because it’s too close to Oceanside Elementary. The 17.5-metre (57.5-foot) Telus monopole would be at the back of the French Creek Landing retail complex, across the Island Highway from the school.<\/p>\n
Last week a letter from board chair Eve Flynn on behalf of the board was sent to Telus, Industry Canada and the Regional District of Nanaimo.<\/p>\n
“Our concern is in regard to the proximity of this proposed telecommunications facility to one of our schools, Oceanside Elementary,” the letter says, noting that 450 kindergarten to Grade 7 students attend daily.<\/p>\n
“While the evidence regarding microwave radiation emissions is by no means definitive at this time, as a precautionary measure, we would ask that the cell tower not be erected at the proposed site… Young developing minds could be at risk.”<\/p>\n
The proposed tower, Trustee Julie Austin said Monday, “as the crow flies is actually pretty close to the playground of Oceanside Elementary.”<\/p>\n
While the science isn’t in one way or the other, she said, trustees decided that “the precautionary principle is the better route to go.<\/p>\n
“Rather than let this happen and then have to deal with it later, why not deal with it here… especially when it concerns children.”<\/p>\n
One of the issues surrounding such radiation, she said, is: “How is this affecting developing brains? “We’d rather be on the safe side.”<\/p>\n