A RESIDENT of Kew has this week said the leader of the Liberal Democrats did not speak on his behalf when he thanked council officers for preventing the installation of a phone mast in his street.

Mr Daniel Slack a resident and business owner of North Road Kew who joined other residents of North Road in protesting against a phone mast being erected there and who staged a successful blockade reported in our issue of May 23rd. This week Mr Slack said that he is still not impressed with the work of the council officers who met with representatives from O2 after the protest and negotiated that the company find an alternative site for the mast and rejected a comment made by Kew councillor Serge Lourie thanking them for their hard work. At the time Cllr Lourie said: "Officers of the council have worked hard to prevent this phone mast. I should like to thank them very much on behalf of local residents. "

Mr Slack said that on the contrary he was "appalled" by the officers of the council. "They are civil servants and are paid to do so. If local residents hadn't been on the ball the mast would have been up. The council's approach to this has been shambolic. Why didn't the council tell us on the first day O2 arrived?

"Instead, four days later their ineptitude forces residents to mount a protest on the street at 6am in the morning. People take time off work, valuable police time is wasted, O2 waste money on getting their lorry out again. The council waste time energy and our money on a situation that need not have occurred."

Cllr Lourie said: "It was certainly the local people who stopped the mast from being put up. It was clear that the operators did not have consent to do so and would have been forced to take it down. Council officers have been working hard to try and find sites that would be acceptable to all."

and are not a blot on residential areas."

I understand that the operator is now reinstating the pavement but leaving the box while an alternative site is sought. It is clear that many people use mobile phones and want reception to be improved in Kew. Council officers have been working hard to try and find sites that would be acceptable to all and are not a blot on residential areas."

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