Prospect residents oppose 28.3m, 5G communications tower near their properties

Prospect residents say a 28.3m, 5G mobile phone tower proposed to be built near their homes would have health impacts and ruin their suburb’s appeal.

Prospect residents and the SA Housing Authority have raised health and scale concerns with a 28.3m, 5G mobile phone tower proposed to be built near their homes.

Optus has lodged $200,000 plans with the City of Prospect council’s assessment panel for a tower in the car park of Crowies Paints on College Ave.

The tower would be moved several blocks from its existing position in yellow. Picture: Prospect council.

It is proposed to replace an existing communications facility on top of the long-closed Radio Rentals building on Main North Rd – which has been there for more than 20 years.

On behalf of Optus, SAQ Consulting told the panel a replacement tower is needed to maintain the current levels of 3G and 4G service to the surrounding area and to introduce 5G.

“To be a viable replacement, a new facility needs to achieve a similar antenna height and be within a couple of hundred metres of the existing facility,” it stated in a letter.

“If these criteria cannot be achieved the existing level of service will not be sufficiently replicated, meaning some customers will lose coverage and multiple replacement facilities may be required to overcome this coverage shortfall.

“There are no obviously better and available locations in the locality as placement of such a structure anywhere in this area would have similar impacts.”

The panel decided in early July to defer the application, requesting further information from the company on sites it ruled unviable.

Six residents, and the Prospect Residents Association, raised concerns with “radiation effects” and the visual and health impacts of two towers next to each other.

The SA Housing Authority also rejected the plan, raising issues with its “significant height, scale and minimal setback” to an adjoining residential property.

However, council staff said the tower would be “largely screened from view in many positions by the existing characteristics within the locality” and other sites would require additional infrastructure.

College Ave resident and urban planner David Lloyd said the tower would be immediately adjacent to a residential zone and just 72m from an existing Telstra tower.

He said it “doesn’t pass the fairness test” and would affect the amenity and character of the neighbourhood and reduce property prices.

The tower would be placed in the car park of an existing paint shop. Picture: Prospect council.

“This isn’t just an antenna, it’s a significant structure,” Mr Lloyd said.

“Our community here in Prospect East will be seen as an area to be avoided if we’re living under multiple industrial-style towers.”

Fellow College Ave resident, Duk Lee, said a petition launched by local residents had also been signed by almost 200 people.

“We understand there is a need for these services, but the site should not be given the green light simply because Optus and the landowner are in agreement,” Mr Lee said.

Prospect resident and Labor candidate for Adelaide, Lucy Hood, said it was the wrong location for the tower.

“Our local residential streets should be renowned for their character homes and leafy boulevards – not twin phone towers,” Ms Hood said.