- Feb 24, 2006
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B.C. hamlet hopes to hush incessant cellphone chatter
VANCOUVER ? In a far-off Shangri-La pocket of British Columbia, a group of determined villagers is engaged in a titanic struggle to roll back the tide of communications progress that has swept over the planet in recent years.
Not all progress, mind you. New Denver, population 556, does have high-speed and wireless Internet service. But progress in the form of the ubiquitous cellphone.
A majority of residents doesn't want it, and they are fighting to keep telecommunications giant Telus from installing a transmission antenna to bring cellphone coverage to the small, lakeshore community.
While some worry about possible health hazards, villagers also espouse their deep love of peace and quiet.
?People get sick and tired of having conversations interrupted by someone picking up a beeping machine,? says New Denver's long-time mayor, Gary Wright. ?It's just another of those gizmos that change the way we act as human beings.?
The local chamber of commerce even trumpets the cellphone hush as a way to drum up business.
?When you come to visit you will be able to enjoy a holiday free of cellphone hassle,? reads the chamber's website.
It's not that we're backward, insists Bill Roberts of the Slocan Valley Economic Development Commission and the man responsible for the intriguing marketing come-on.
?But cellphones are a bane on our existence with their damn rings everywhere.?
In a referendum earlier this year, the village voted 117 to 110 against installation of a small Telus receiver just outside their community in the heart of the pristine Slocan Valley, about 100 kilometres northwest of Nelson.
Yet the torturously close vote showed sentiment is far from unanimous in New Denver, and there may be little the anti-cellphone faction can do to thwart Telus' plans.
?It seems that telecommunication companies can install anything they want anywhere, even though we, as a village, voted on it, and we don't want it,? Mr. Wright said. ?This is an issue of local control. We shouldn't have to defend what we decide.?
Telus can override municipal objections because transmission towers are under federal jurisdiction, controlled by Industry Canada.
So far, Telus has voluntarily halted construction. But the Vancouver-based corporation is getting frustrated, both by the delay and what the company says are wildly exaggerated health concerns over transmission waves from the antenna.
?Emotions are running high. We can't let the kind of misinformation out there sway our decision,? said Telus spokesman Shawn Hall.
Mr. Hall said Telus is responding to a strong demand for cellphone service by other villagers and residents of nearby communities Silverton and Roseberry.
?We are wanted. We didn't suddenly decide to bring this in just to make the community cranky,? he said.
The proposed $500,000 transmission antenna will be affixed to a CBC tower, about 300 metres from the home of 69-year-old Penny Bonnett. Fears about the impact on her health has her thinking about packing up and leaving an area she has lived in for 38 years.
?I started to do the research and I became quite horrified at some of the studies that have been done,? she said. ?I simply don't trust what Health Canada says. I've had it.?
Meanwhile, no one should be too surprised that New Denver is trying to resist the cellphone. Years ago, the village also turned its back on the costly lure of cable-TV service, opting instead to set up its own cable reception.
?We're independent thinkers here,? Mayor Wright said.
Mr. Roberts of the chamber of commerce said he doesn't mind that outsiders may shake their heads over what ?those idiots? are doing in New Denver.
?There are times,? he said, ?when I'm proud to be called an idiot.?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Like Mr Roberts is saying, I am shaking my head at their stupidity.
The text I bolded also illustrates how utterly clueless those people realy are.
:roll:
VANCOUVER ? In a far-off Shangri-La pocket of British Columbia, a group of determined villagers is engaged in a titanic struggle to roll back the tide of communications progress that has swept over the planet in recent years.
Not all progress, mind you. New Denver, population 556, does have high-speed and wireless Internet service. But progress in the form of the ubiquitous cellphone.
A majority of residents doesn't want it, and they are fighting to keep telecommunications giant Telus from installing a transmission antenna to bring cellphone coverage to the small, lakeshore community.
While some worry about possible health hazards, villagers also espouse their deep love of peace and quiet.
?People get sick and tired of having conversations interrupted by someone picking up a beeping machine,? says New Denver's long-time mayor, Gary Wright. ?It's just another of those gizmos that change the way we act as human beings.?
The local chamber of commerce even trumpets the cellphone hush as a way to drum up business.
?When you come to visit you will be able to enjoy a holiday free of cellphone hassle,? reads the chamber's website.
It's not that we're backward, insists Bill Roberts of the Slocan Valley Economic Development Commission and the man responsible for the intriguing marketing come-on.
?But cellphones are a bane on our existence with their damn rings everywhere.?
In a referendum earlier this year, the village voted 117 to 110 against installation of a small Telus receiver just outside their community in the heart of the pristine Slocan Valley, about 100 kilometres northwest of Nelson.
Yet the torturously close vote showed sentiment is far from unanimous in New Denver, and there may be little the anti-cellphone faction can do to thwart Telus' plans.
?It seems that telecommunication companies can install anything they want anywhere, even though we, as a village, voted on it, and we don't want it,? Mr. Wright said. ?This is an issue of local control. We shouldn't have to defend what we decide.?
Telus can override municipal objections because transmission towers are under federal jurisdiction, controlled by Industry Canada.
So far, Telus has voluntarily halted construction. But the Vancouver-based corporation is getting frustrated, both by the delay and what the company says are wildly exaggerated health concerns over transmission waves from the antenna.
?Emotions are running high. We can't let the kind of misinformation out there sway our decision,? said Telus spokesman Shawn Hall.
Mr. Hall said Telus is responding to a strong demand for cellphone service by other villagers and residents of nearby communities Silverton and Roseberry.
?We are wanted. We didn't suddenly decide to bring this in just to make the community cranky,? he said.
The proposed $500,000 transmission antenna will be affixed to a CBC tower, about 300 metres from the home of 69-year-old Penny Bonnett. Fears about the impact on her health has her thinking about packing up and leaving an area she has lived in for 38 years.
?I started to do the research and I became quite horrified at some of the studies that have been done,? she said. ?I simply don't trust what Health Canada says. I've had it.?
Meanwhile, no one should be too surprised that New Denver is trying to resist the cellphone. Years ago, the village also turned its back on the costly lure of cable-TV service, opting instead to set up its own cable reception.
?We're independent thinkers here,? Mayor Wright said.
Mr. Roberts of the chamber of commerce said he doesn't mind that outsiders may shake their heads over what ?those idiots? are doing in New Denver.
?There are times,? he said, ?when I'm proud to be called an idiot.?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Like Mr Roberts is saying, I am shaking my head at their stupidity.
The text I bolded also illustrates how utterly clueless those people realy are.
:roll:
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