Feedback received by Telstra at a community drop-in session will be examined before the company decides whether it will lodge a development application for a mobile phone tower at Blackstone Heights.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
About 40 community members and aldermen attended the session on September 20 to voice concerns about the tower’s proposed location in Zenith Court.
Blackstone Heights resident Melissa Page said many residents left the session without having their queries addressed.
“Residents are all extremely stressed and anxious, I know some of them are like me and are feeling quite emotional,” she said.
“Having to constantly beg for information and never knowing what is going on, we are the ones who are directly affected and it is taking its toll on residents.”
The proposed site for the 30-metre tower was pegged out in August and was just metres from homes and backyards.
A Telstra spokesman said the company was pleased with the number of residents who attended the drop-in session.
“We will now decide whether to proceed with a development application for the proposed site,” the spokesman said.
“If we do, then community members will have further opportunities for consultation as part of the local council DA process.”
Ms Page said residents don’t want to stop the tower, they just want it relocated away from their family homes.
“There is not a day that goes by that someone doesn't ask me about the tower,” she said.
Last year, Blackstone Heights was included in the federal government’s third round of the Mobile Black Spot Program.
The $220 million program aims to increase mobile phone coverage to regional areas across Australia.
If the tower goes ahead, Telstra customers in the area will be the only beneficiaries of improved coverage.
However, other service providers may choose to co-locate their equipment at a later date. The tower will carry triple-0 calls regardless of the provider.
