Protest forces club to rethink mast plan (From Free Press Series)

Protest forces club to rethink mast plan

A DECISION to site a phone mast at Talywain RFC will have to be re-taken.

Trustees of the rugby club, which is run as a charity, signed a lease with Vodafone last August, to allow the mobile phone giant to put a phone on their land.

That decision has been opposed by many local people who fear radiation from the mast would be bad for their health.

Now the Charity Commission, which oversees the financial activities of charities, has written to the rugby club.

The commission's letter criticises the club because it did 'not comply with all the requirements regarding disposals of land, as set out in our Charities Act 1983'.

The letter tells the club they must start the process to dispose of the land again. It does not detail in what way the club failed to follow the correct procedure.

Club trustee David Boddington declined to comment on the letter.

Local Community councillor Wayne Tomlinson and campaigner Kath Gullick have led the fight against the mast. They asked the Charity Commission to look into the way the decision had been taken.

In a joint statement, saying: "Talywain Rugby Football Club is a charity and holds charity status and as such should be working to benefit the local community.

"Before they begin the process of leasing the land again to Vodafone we would like to remind them that they have a chance of withdrawing from this contract, unless of course they have already received money. They are fully aware of the controversy the issue of the mast has caused and we hope they will put people before profit this time."

"My problem with this is that they didn't consult with the community before agreeing to put this mast there. We contacted the Charity Commission because we were concerned to ensure what was happening was right under charitable law.

"I know the jury is still out on the health issues, but I think the commission has acted because the club didn't consult properly.

"The right to reject this proposal was denied to local people."