MP calls for moratorium on building new homes and schools near power lines
The MP, who is the Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Public Health and Primary Care, has tabled the motion following the publication of a major study by Oxford University which found that children who had lived within 200m of high voltage lines at birth had a 70% higher risk of leukaemia than those 600m or more away.
The study looked at more than 29,000 children with cancer, including 9,700 with leukaemia, born between 1962 and 1995, and control group of healthy youngsters in England and Wales. It found that 64 children with leukaemia lived within 200m of a power line, while 258 lived lived between 200-600m away.
Although the scientists who carried out the study were unable to establish a categorical link between the incidence of leukaemia and the siting of the power lines, Dr Stoate is calling on the Government to take action.
“In view of the findings of this study I think an immediate moratorium is justified,” said the MP. “It may be that the increased incidence of leukaemia in children living close to power lines is connected to factors which have nothing to do with the electric and magnetic fields generated by overhead power lines. Until we know for certain however, I think that we have to exercise caution, and ensure that new homes, schools and hospitals are kept well away from pylons.”
Dr Stoate has also called on the Government to commission more research into the possible connection between childhood leukaemia and the siting of power lines.
“With more research into the relationship between electric and magnetic fields and the causation of childhood leukaemia, we will be in a far better position to make an informed decision about the siting of power lines. The concerns about this issue that have been generated by this study and others are not going to go away, and residents, particularly parents, want to see the Government take further action on the issue.”
The MP has acknowledged that a moratorium could have ramifications with regard to the Government’s house building plans for the Thames Gateway and the other growth areas.
“There is a high concentration of overhead power lines in the Thames Gateway and many of the principal development sites are crossed by them. I think that we need to think very carefully therefore as to how these sites are planned and where the new homes are located on them. If we have to divert or bury power cables or even reduce the number of homes that are planned on certain sites in order to safeguard residents then so be it.”
|
