Agenda item

To receive a petition referred from Devon County Council from the Exeter Halt 5G Group, which related to the Group’s concerns regarding the installation of 5G transmitters in Exeter.  The petition included an appeal to postpone the rollout of 5G in Exeter pending the outcome of an independent investigation.

Devon County Council had referred the petition, received in hard copy to Exeter City Council as the District Council with responsibility for planning permission in Exeter. The petition contained 107 signatures with 47 signatories identified with an Exeter address.

It should be noted that there is an ongoing petition on Change.Org from the Halt 5G in Exeter.

A briefing note is attached.

The Chair welcomed the public to the meeting and referred to the receipt of a petition referred from Devon County Council from the Exeter Halt 5G Group, as the City Council had responsibility for planning permission in the city. The petition contained 107 signatures, with 47 signatories identified with an Exeter address. It was noted that there was an ongoing petition on Change.Org from the Halt 5G in Exeter with over 1,000 signatures. The petition had been initiated to show the Group’s concerns regarding the installation of 5G transmitters in Exeter, with an appeal to postpone the rollout of 5G in Exeter pending the outcome of an independent investigation. A briefing note circulated to Members set out the main issues.

Members were supportive of the formation of a Task and Finish Group to discuss this matter further and during discussion raised the following points:-

·         experts in the field with a good level of scientific and technical knowledge should be invited, including those with a medical and planning background.

• technical corporations should also be invited to be held account.

·         whether Exeter could follow Brighton and Hove City Council who had recently banned the installation of 5G masts, due to perceived public health concerns. The Director (BA) referred to the briefing note which set out some of the context in terms of health grounds and the limited role as a planning authority.

·         whether lampposts owned by Devon County Council were 5G enabled. The Director (DB) advised that Devon County Council had discussed the enablement of lampposts. Many local authorities had street lighting system that were low powered, wireless and remotely controlled, but he could obtain further information from the County Council if required.

Following the debate, Councillor Lyons formally proposed the formation of a Task and Finish Group to discuss 5G, which was seconded by Councillor Pattison. The nomination was unanimously agreed by Members.

The Chair welcomed the establishment of a Task and Finish Group, and advised that any such requests would be taken to the Scrutiny Programme Board to be assessed against Council priorities, and any resource implications.  It would be necessary to identify a scoping document, the number of meetings, membership, and invitations to experts in the field. A group of five members, with Councillor Newby from the Conservative Group and Councillor J Moore from the Progressive Group, together with Councillors Buswell, Owen and Pattison from the Labour Group were identified. It was noted that other Members with an interest in this subject could be invited to contribute.

The Corporate Manager Democratic and Civic Support responded to a Member’s enquiry about the opportunity for recommendations to be made to Executive.  He also reminded Members of the timeline of the forthcoming Programme Board, meaning that the first meeting of the task and finish group would not be convened until at least the New Year.  Three or four meetings were likely to be held over a period of two or three months before coming back to a future meeting of this Scrutiny Committee. The Director (BA) responded to a Member’s concerns about any future rollout of 5G before the discussions were completed, and reiterated that there was currently no roll out of 5G planned, but any such requests would be dealt with through the normal planning process.

Strategic Scrutiny Committee noted the petition and supported the formation of a Task and Finish Group, with the above membership, which would be discussed at the forthcoming Scrutiny Programme Board on the 16 December with the results of that meeting being reported to the next Strategic Scrutiny Committee.