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Paper petition details

Pause Bristol's 5G Rollout

We ask that our political leaders invoke the precautionary principle and issue a moratorium (authorised period of delay) on Bristol's 5G expansion until they can verify through independent studies that 5G and the total radiation levels caused by RF-EMF (5G together with 2G, 3G, 4G, and WiFi) will not be harmful to the environment or Bristol's citizens, especially infants, children and pregnant women.

Started by: Sally Beare

On reaching 3500 signatures a full council debate will be held.

This Paper petition ran from 01/05/2019 to 05/08/2019 and has now finished.

3979 people signed this Paper petition.

Council response


This petition was submitted to Democratic Services for verification on 5th August 2019.

Democratic Services have received and accepted the petition confirming 3,979 signatures qualified for Live, Work, Study in Bristol meeting the threshold for a petition debate.

The petition was debated at Full Council on the 10th September 2019.

Cllr Asher Craig – Formal response to debate.

I would like to thank the petitioner for bringing this to our attention and I do appreciate the concerns that have been raised about the alleged health risks of the 5G Roll out.

As with all local authorities Bristol has to take its advice from Public Health England and it is this advice that we have had to work with.
The Public Health England centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards takes the lead on Public Health matters associated with radiofrequency, electromagnetic fields or radio waves used in telecommunications.

Mobile telecommunications technology has developed through several generations and there are now many 2G, 3G and 4G base stations installed throughout the environment providing services to users of mobile phones and other devices.

Public Health England have advised that the highest frequencies being discussed for future use by 5G are not new and they have been used in microwaves and some other types of transmitters for many years.

Public Health England have advised that it is possible that there may be a small increase in overall exposure to radio waves when 5G is added to an existing network or in a new area, however the overall exposure is expected to remain low, or relatively low compared to guidelines and as such there should be no consequences for public health.

I would assert there is no solid evidence that 5G or any mobile communication network can have a harmful effect on human health. The upgrade is based on similar technology to preceding mobile networks and so far no study has found a link between mobile phones and cancers, although research into the area is on going.

I recognise and support the proposal from my Green colleague in terms of additional investigatory work being undertaken but we will continue to take our lead from Public Health England.

Watch the debate: here https://youtu.be/uF80vXEiaRU?t=48m21s

A link to the meeting papers can be found here:
https://democracy.bristol.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=142&MId=3767