Community action against Sandy Bay phone tower steps up …

The Sandy Bay Community Action Group has welcomed reports from the Hobart City Council and the Australian Communications and Media Authority that Optus have backed away from claiming that their proposed mobile phone tower on Woolworths Sandy Bay was “low impact”, despite no change to the tower’s structure or design.

ACMA have advised the community group that Optus will now submit a development application for the entire facility to council. HCC CEO, Nick Heath, told SBCAG that recent Optus advice confirms this, and made a commitment that the council will ensure rigorous assessment of the proposal. The community looks forward to this taking place through a transparent process.

“This is a positive step and will be encouraging to the nearly 500 residents and shoppers who have petitioned against the tower,” said group spokesperson Anthea Hopkins. “The Optus tower, and the second tower that Telstra is considering for Woolworths carpark, were never low impact and the community is clear about why these towers should not go ahead. Towers need to be sited appropriately to minimise health risks to the community – Woolworths carpark is not the location for mobile phone towers.”

“Community pressure and concerns have got us one step towards stopping this development but there is still lots to do,” says Mrs Hopkins, “the regulations at state, federal and local council level, were never written with the current proliferation of towers in mind; they certainly never envisaged the sorts of serious health concerns that are emerging about EM radiation that comes from towers.”

A community meeting will update concerned residents about the increased community impact level of the tower, and what the community still needs to do to stop this going ahead. A study1 published this month in the international journal “Science of the Total Environment” raises particular concerns for residents within 500m of towers and the SBCAG is encouraging residents within 500m to attend.

Local residents Grant and Jillian Jackson say “The community is very united in opposition to this development which is close to local primary schools, shops, residences and workplaces. We’ll be continuing to show a united front in opposition and urge the Council to take control to ensure mobile phone carriers are socially responsible and don’t put these towers in the wrong place. We understand that 20 facilities in Hobart have already been put to HCC so far this year. HCC have powers to assess all facilities, including low impact facilities, and should be doing this rigorously for each one, as well as properly notifying the community”.

Community meeting – Sunday 24 July 12:30pm – Anglican Church Hall cnr Lord & Grosvenor Sts, Sandy Bay