Presentation of the Base Station Location Plan: "Do not disturb the operator."

Arezzo, July 14, 2025 – Presentation of the Base Station Location Plan. Disturbing the driver is prohibited, according to Roberto Barone. Arezzo2020 – To change to the left.

«The presentation of the new Radio Base Station Location Plan (RBS) took place last Thursday in the Sala Rosa of the Municipality, which foresees a total of 69 (61 co-siting and 8 new).

It must be said first that the choice of location, period, day (weekday), and time (9:00 a.m.) was unfortunate, but perhaps deliberate, to ensure low citizen participation. Indeed, only five or six residents were present, despite a large number of municipal representatives, including the plan's drafter and his staff, the Director of the Environmental Protection Office, the City Planning Councilor, the Deputy Mayor, and the Director of the Building and Urban Planning Office (SUAP). This is the first time the City Administration has fulfilled its obligation to involve citizens in location decisions, despite this requirement having been in place since 2011 under Regional Law No. 49 of Tuscany, having failed to comply even in high-profile cases such as the Via Sicilia antenna, which was challenged by residents.

Personally, and with considerable knowledge of the matter, I calmly made two proposals: first, to include in the regulations, among sensitive areas (those where installations are not permitted), specific situations such as those of residents with full-blown electrosensitivity, and I was referring to an existing case in our area; second, to establish more frequent inspections at all reception areas, currently scheduled only once a year, on a biannual basis. This is to better protect citizens and ensure everyone is more confident in complying with exposure limits to electromagnetic fields.

Responses: The Director of the Environmental Protection Office reacted harshly to the proposal for more frequent inspections, failing to identify the reason, effectively ignoring the term "Protection" required by his role. He also stated that he was aware of the case of electrosensitivity, although he incorrectly identified the location where it occurred, but offered no opinion on the matter.

The Director of the Building Department's intervention was unfortunate and serious. In a sort of unsolicited self-defense of the Via Sicilia case, he firmly, but erroneously, stated that drafting a new plan every three years is not mandatory. This obligation is, however, required by the aforementioned Regional Law, which also provides for any updates, if necessary. This further confirms the botched handling of the Via Sicilia case, which began precisely with the lack of a plan, which expired in 2020.

Finally, it is unfortunate that the Deputy Mayor reacted vehemently to my personal comments on the current situation at the ARPAT offices in Arezzo, and that she took advantage of a press release to politically attack me as an "exponent of Arezzo 2020" and Arezzo 2020, even though I had not presented myself as a story.

In relation to this, having considered myself thus, I respond on my own behalf and on behalf of Arezzo 2020.