***ORANGE PHONE MASTS OFF WESTCOMBE COURT***

To:  Mr Didier Lombard, Chief Executive Officer of France Telecom, parent company of Orange

Dear DIDIER



How would you feel if an international telecommunications giant erected a mobile phone macrocell base station
(6,000 kilos of equipment including four 1.5m antennae) LESS THAN 6 METRES from the front door of your home, without asking your opinion?

ALARMED?

How would you feel if the beams from those antennae were directed straight towards your home and passed within 2-3 metres of your head when you stepped outside your front door?

STUNNED?

How would you feel if, after 12 years of protest, your democratically elected local council finally listened and ordered the equipment to be removed – but the telecoms giant refused to comply, claiming squatter's rights?

FURIOUS?

Well, Didier, since 1993, that is precisely what has happened to the residents of Westcombe Court in the London Borough of Greenwich, England.

This is what Westcombe Court used to look like:



This is what it looks like now:





For 12 years, residents have fought to make Greenwich Council listen to their views and terminate the lease that has given Orange a licence to frighten and upset residents young and old, destroy their quality of life and ignore their repeated requests to take its phone masts away.



In October 2005 the case presented by the residents (see The Future's Green not Orange) became overwhelming and Greenwich Council finally terminated Orange’s lease to operate the base station.

FANTASTIQUE! SO WHAT'S THE PROBLEM?

Orange is refusing to move the masts. It is claiming squatter's rights because the Council allowed it a period of grace (which ended in June 2006) to find an alternative site.

In October 2006, Greenwich Council served an eviction notice on Orange, giving it until 10 February 2007 to comply with the 2006 order to remove its equipment, or face legal action.

Residents have it on good authority that Orange intends to challenge Greenwich Council's decision in court, and hopes that the residents' campaign will run out of steam if it can defeat the Council order on a technicality.

We must not let this happen!

PLEASE HELP US DIDIER!



If you still need convincing, visit the VPERA site and read the full story.

Read how Orange misled residents and Greenwich Council.

Read how Orange ignored health and safety regulations and put residents and the public at risk.

Read how Orange ignored the safety guidelines given by its OWN LEGAL DEPARTMENT that no member of the public would EVER be as close as TEN METRES to one of its base stations.

See if you agree with us that Orange's behaviour has been shameful in regard to the residents of Westcombe Court.

While you are at it, why not read your own company’s ethical policy?

PLEASE GIVE YOUR SUPPORT AND SIGN THE PETITION BELOW!!

We, the undersigned, are:

ALARMED!
That Orange was allowed to impose a mobile phone macrocell base station within 6 metres of public residences, with 1.5 metre antennae pointing in the direction of people's homes;

STUNNED!
That Orange thinks it is acceptable to frighten and upset ordinary local people, including the elderly and young families, and ignore their repeated requests to take its equipment away;

FURIOUS!
That Orange is ignoring a Greenwich Council eviction notice and squatting on Council property in the hope that it can win on a technicality and carry on its occupation of the site in the face of local and Council opposition.

In the name of corporate responsibility and simple human decency, we urge Didier Lombard to ask Orange to reconsider its position, listen to residents and Greenwich Council and remove its mobile phone masts from Westcombe Court. If it refuses, we urge the Woolwich Magistrates to respect local democracy and throw Orange out of court.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The ***ORANGE PHONE MASTS OFF WESTCOMBE COURT*** Petition to Mr Didier Lombard, Chief Executive Officer of France Telecom, parent company of Orange was created by Vanbrugh Park Estate Residents' Association and written by jonathan bond (mastsoff@vpera.org.uk).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.

Send this to a friend