Worried about property value

UNIMPRESSED: Hauraki resident Denis Donovan didn???t get a chance to object to this tower being put up outside his home.

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Denis Donovan is complaining his water views have been obstructed by what he calls a "whopping great cellphone tower".

The Hauraki resident got an unexpected and unwanted surprise when the 14.6 metre high structure was put in last week.

It was installed for New Zealand Communications Ltd.

He says he wasn’t consulted about it and when he called the North Shore City Council he was told there was nothing that could be done because it was a non-notified resource consent application and approval had been given.

New Zealand Communications senior town planner Fiona Lilley says the company has gone through the correct process.

"The council deemed it non-notified and that there didn’t need to be a consultation process because the effects would be no more than minor.

"We lodged our application and from there it’s in the council’s hands."

Ms Lilley says the tower is on the roadside which is council land. She also says it is non-intrusive.

Mr Donovan says he has called the council and the company and had little response about why he wasn’t consulted.

The best he could get was someone from the council offering to inform him about cellphone tower safety issues, he says.

"I have had no input or say, no chance for objection."

All he received was a letter in the post two weeks ago.

"It has devalued our property immensely. No one wants to buy a house with that on the property. I owe more on the mortgage than what the house is worth."

Mr Donovan bought the house for $390,000 nine years ago and a recent valuation put it at $800,000.

Ms Lilley says she "begs to differ" that it would affect the house price.

"We used an existing street light. It wasn’t like we put up a new pole or anything."

- © Fairfax NZ News