Shailer Park mobile tower metres from school, Girl Guides, ‘not a risk’ says radiation watchdog ARPANSA

A 30m mobile phone tower, proposed to be built less than 100m from a child care centre and a primary school, has been labelled as safe by the national radiation watchdog. But residents say it will crash land values.

A 30m mobile phone tower, proposed to be built less than 100m from a child care centre and a primary school, has been labelled as safe by the national radiation watchdog.

Plans to build the tower at Shailer Park’s Kimberley Plaza, raised concerns from residents and locals, who fear it is too close to houses, schools and child care centres.

The proposed tower, to be erected in the carpark of the Calvary Family Church, on Chatswood Rd, would be less than 300m from Avenues Early Learning Centre, Kimberley Park State School and Shailer Park Girl Guides huts.

Stilmark, a licensed telecommunication carrier, will lease a spot in the church car park for the tower which will support both Optus and Vodafone 4G and 5G networks.

Brisbane-based company Waveform reported on the electromagnetic energy anticipated at the site.

An excerpt from the electromagnetic energy report into the mobile tower at Shailer Park showing all expected radiation levels are under the 100 per cent safety standard.

Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency told residents the preliminary report at the site was nothing to be worried about.

ARPANSA assistant director in health impact assessment Associate Professor Ken Karipidis said the safety report for the proposed tower showed radiation levels were anticipated to be “well under the 100 per cent safety standard” and “nowhere near breaching” a risk limit.

“This type of radio wave frequency radiation at very high power levels can cause heating of the body, like a very powerful microwave to heat up food – but that’s not the case here,” he said.

“The sorts of levels that you get from a telecommunication pole, a mobile phone or mobile phone towers are really, really low and much lower than any level that would cause heating or any other health effects.

“The radiation from the inside of a microwave oven would be millions of times more than from this type of mobile phone tower.

“These structures are perfectly safe. In this instance, the safety limit is 100 per cent but the percentage of public exposure is less than 2 per cent at the school and the child care centres.”

SAQ Consulting Mark Baade, on behalf of the tower developer Stilmark said the tower would provide new and improved Optus and Vodafone coverage to Shailer Park.

The yellow dot shows where a proposed 30m mobile phone tower will be built at Shailer Park.

“There are very few Optus and or Vodafone facilities in the wider area – the nearest are between 1.6 and 1.7 kilometres away near the Hyperdome and at the water reservoir on Telfer St,” he said.

“As a result, the coverage in the area is poor, with indoor coverage and data throughput speeds particularly impacted.

“Similarly, Telstra has only one main facility in the area on Commercial Dr as well as a small

cell located on a power pole in Voltaire St, which only services a very limited area.”

Logan City Council, which will assess the application, asked for the pole to be moved from the northern end of the carpark to the southern end.

Shailer Park resident Brooke Mulligan said in a submission to the council the 30m tower did not fit with the aesthetics of the area and would have a “substantial impact” on the local community.

A 30m mobile phone tower is proposed to be built less than 100m from a child care centre and a primary school.

She said the KP Centre was central to the local community, having a church, dance school, community markets and small businesses and was close to a popular children’s playground, a day care centre and school.

“I believe that the addition of this phone tower will subsequently take away this community space, due to health concerns — valid or not,” she said.

“As a young family, we have children who attend the local park and use the dance centre and I would be hesitant to spend any time there if this tower went ahead and I’m sure my concerns are not unique to my family.

“The proposed development may also impact real estate values in areas immediately surrounding the tower.”

Ms Mulligan asked the council and the developer to consider other sites away from community hubs.

The community consultation period for the tower closes on August 18.