A development application for a mobile phone tower at Blackstone Heights has been lodged with the Meander Valley Council.
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Zenith Court has been selected as the “most appropriate” site of the five locations that Telstra examined for the tower, the development application said.
Blackstone Heights community members, including residents of Zenith Court, strongly advocated against the tower being built so close to their houses.
The area was identified in the federal government’s Mobile Black Spot funding program, which is investing nearly $260 million to provide better mobile coverage to regional and remote communities.
When selecting the site Telstra looks for an area that meets the network’s technical requirements and community-based concerns like the visual impact and the distance to sensitive and heritage locations.
If approved, the $200,000 tower will be built on a TasWater site at Zenith Court.
The development application said the site was chosen because it is a utilities zoning, with a large concrete tank on site, existing vegetation screening, and its ability to meet coverage objectives required for the area.
“Telstra does not propose the installation of a new telecommunication facility without exhaustively investigating possible alternatives,” the application said.
Telstra acknowledged concerns expressed by community members over the tower’s location, but said “the site is the only logical site to place this facility”.
Twenty submissions were made to Telstra and Visionstream after a community drop in session on September 20.
Telstra explored sites at Travellers Rest, Stephensdale Drive and The Ridge as a result of feedback, but the application said the sites failed to achieve the same coverage as the selected location.
To alleviate some of the community concern about the visual impact, the development application said Telstra reduced the tower’s height by five metres.
Representations to the application must be made by November 26.