The Independent Member for Denison, Andrew Wilkie, will introduce a Private Member’s Bill this morning that would give communities more rights in relation to the placement of phone towers.
WHEN: Approximately 10:25am TODAY 25 June
WHERE: House of Representatives (watch live at https://www.aph.gov.au/News_and_Events/Watch_Parliament)
“I’ve been approached by many groups of residents over the years who are concerned about badly-sited phone towers,” Mr Wilkie said. “They feel they are locked out of the process, that their concerns aren’t listened to and that telcos have all the power.”
“That’s why I’ve introduced two bills already, once in 2011 and again in 2014, that would give people more rights to raise concerns about these developments in their communities. Shamefully both times the Labor and Liberal parties refused to even allow a debate. Let’s hope things are different this time around.”
The law currently allows many phone towers to be classified as “low-impact” and to subvert normal council planning processes. Today’s bill comes as residents in West Hobart fight against such a “low-impact” development on a residential street.
“The question here is not whether we need phone towers, because we do. But they must be built with regard to genuine community concerns and not just put in the cheapest possible place.”
Mr Wilkie’s bill would, among other things, require telcos to look at alternative sites, require everyone within 500 metres of a new development to be notified, remove the ability for telcos to extend the height of towers under the guise of routine maintenance, and restrict when towers can be classified as “low-impact”.
Authorised by Andrew Wilkie MP 188 Collins St Hobart
Independent Member for Denison, Andrew Wilkie
