PLAYFORD Council has shut down a proposed 30m high mobile phone tower for Uleybury, following fierce opposition from local residents.
The tower was proposed to be built just off Craigmore Road, near Vivian Road, and was expected to provide better mobile phone coverage for the growing Craigmore area.
At launch it would have provided the current standard 4G wireless signal, before eventually emitting a 5G signal.
At Playford’s Council Assessment Panel meeting on Monday night, members voted to shut down the proposed tower, which was to be built by Telstra.
The development was met with fierce opposition by nearby residents, who organised an online petition which garnered 70 signatures and a physical version which gathered a further 122 names.
Another 12 people were also expected to give verbal submissions on the night.
Residents’ trepidations included opposition to further in the council’s Hills Face zone, visual impacts and potential loss in property value.
Concerns also centred around the supposed “health affects” of 5G phone towers, with one submission by a Andrew Odzierejko saying there is a “stigma” around the towers.
He said 5G towers give off radiation, and that their health affects “have yet to undergo the rigours of long term testing”.
“I plan to live in this area for probably most of my remaining years, which I hope is a good 25 (or more) years without the threat of one day waking up to news of health conditions caused by long-term exposure to RFR (radio-frequency radiation),” he said.
According to a statement from former-Australian Chief Medical Officer professor Brendan Murphy – the head of Australia’s COVID-19 pandemic response – in January, there is “no evidence telecommunication technologies, such as 5G, cause adverse health impacts”.
The World Health Organisation’s website also indicated there are no adverse health risks due to 5G “after much research performed”.
The CAP’s decision went against council staff’s recommendations, which indicated it should grant development consent for the tower, with a report tabled at the meeting stating Telstra had “addressed” the residents’ concerns.
“Although the proposed telecommunications facility will be a new visual element in the locality, the applicant has sought to balance technical need with amenity by offsetting its visual impacts through incorporating a slimline monopole design, appropriate colours and materials and siting,” it read.
“The natural topography of the land will not be altered, no vegetation will be removed and the existing mature trees will assist in screening the facility.
“Even though numerous representors raised the matter of property value impacts as a result of the proposed telecommunications facility, this is not a planning consideration and is not relevant in deciding on this development application.”