Telstra and Henley Beach residents to battle out phone tower dispute in court

TELCO giant Telstra is fighting to overturn a decision preventing it from building a 35m tower in a beachside suburb – residents argued it would be “out of character” with the area.

Telstra says a 35m-high tower it wants to build at Henley Beach would boost phone coverage.

TELSTRA has launched legal action after its plan to install a 35m-high tower to improve phone coverage in Henley Beach was rejected by Charles Sturt Council.

The proposed development has been opposed by residents who believe the tower does not belong in the area.

The telecommunications company has lodged an appeal to the Environment, Resources and Development Court to build the tower at 73 East Tce to cover blind spots along the coast.

The appeal will seek to overturn a decision made by the council’s Development Assessment Panel in December, which found the tower would not add to the “desired character of the area” and would “detrimentally impact the amenity of the nearby residents”.

Suzanne Bromley was one of 48 residents who submitted representations to the panel in opposition to the phone tower. Mrs Bromley lives next door to the proposed site, which is a Telstra exchange.

“The tower would be five metres from my living room, no corporation should be able to do that to someone’s lifestyle or property prices,” she said.

“People don’t have the money that Telstra has to fight this and what happens is they just squash them.”

Raymond St resident Derek Murray questioned Telstra’s attempt to find a more suitable site for the tower.

“It was a very half-hearted attempt to examine other sites. In the end they just did what was most convenient for them,” he said.

Telstra area general manager Mark Bolton said a thorough process explored other locations for the tower but they were not suitable.

“The need for upgraded services in the area is real and we believe this site is the best option available,” he said.

“Telstra needs to consider the mobile call and data needs for the Henley Beach area, both now and in the future.”

Mr Bolton said Telstra’s current mobile tower, on top of an ageing apartment building on Seaview Rd, was not optimal in terms of coverage and capacity and the building was not suitable for the upgraded equipment they needed.

Henley ward councillor Robert Randall said he was disappointed in the panel’s decision to refuse the proposal.

“You can tell when you pull out your phone that it is a low-service area,” he said.

“There’s many users of smartphones and other devices in the Henley Beach area who would benefit from this, but there’s a group of ‘not in my backyard’ people who are driving against it to the detriment of others.”

The parties are due to go before the ERD Court on March 9 for a conciliation conference.