‘Community benefit’ winner at the Blackstone Heights tower tribunal

By Sharon Webb

TASMANIA’S PLANNING appeals body has agreed that Telstra can build a 25m communications tower at Blackstone Heights – with barely a nod to the concerns of neighbouring residents who fought it for months.

The Resource Management Planning Appeals Tribunal conceded only that work to build the tower can start weekdays at 7am, with slightly later starts on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.

Telstra’s RMPAT appeal was caused by Meander Valley Council initially rejecting permission to build the tower. According to general manager Martin Gill the cost was around $32 000 in legal fees and about $5000 in council officer time.

The tribunal rejected every condition suggested by appellant Steven McGee, whose property in Zenith Court neighbours the proposed tower, including that:

• the tower be decommissioned after 10 years

• Mr McGee be compensated for the impact on his visual amenity

• Telstra screens the tower or compensates Mr McGee for its inability to provide screening to his property

• Telstra protects Wedge Tailed Eagle breeding habitat

• the tower’s electromagnetic emissions levels be monitored.

Mr McGee, who has a law degree, said the two days he spent at the RMPAT hearing were like being in an alien world.

‘It’s an adversarial system, court-like with lawyers and supposed experts, with no way for ordinary people to get involved in the planning process,’ he said. ‘

Before having a three year old I wouldn’t have taken a stand on this but I want to look after him.’

‘I believe the tower should be on the Stephensdale estate, away from residential areas.’

RMPAT’s decision justifies comments by former Meander Valley Councillor Andrew Connor in a December 2018 council meeting. He warned against rejecting a permit for the tower because should Telstra appeal the decision in RMPAT the legal bill would drop in the council’s lap.

‘RMPAT has only ever refused one tower. These things are rarely successful,’ he said.

Despite the warning Meander Valley Council heard Blackstone Heights residents’ concerns and rejected the permit. But in a closed meeting in April, councillors changed their decision.

Mayor Wayne Johnston said this was ‘because Telstra gave us information it should have given us in the first place’.

Despite the council’s change of mind, according to Jarrod Bryan from RMPAT the tribunal was obliged to hear from Mr McGee and so the hearing went ahead – involving Meander Valley Council even though it now supported the tower permit, at the cost of $37 000 to ratepayers.

Meander Valley Council initially rejected the tower on grounds of visual impact and the lack of significant community benefit.

But the extra information Telstra provided demonstrated a community benefit and in the tribunal this over-rode all other objections.

Specialist network engineer for Radio Network Engineering, Ramesh Perera, told the tribunal that if significant capacity relief was not provided, customers in Blackstone Heights would have very slow data internet speeds, followed by data access blocking and eventually the inability to make or receive voice calls.

Currently, the Blackstone Heights area has several locations with poor or no indoor coverage. The capacity of the two current towers in Juliana Street and Strahan Hill is forecast to run out in 2020 and 2024 respectively.

Telstra maintains the new tower will provide significant long term capacity for current and future customer needs.