Chorus pushes on with phone tower

BY MATTHEW THEUNISSEN

A controversial cellphone tower will be built in Windsor despite opposition from residents and attempts by the Invercargill City Council to have it moved.

The council gave permission in January 2008 to Telecom subsidiary Chorus to build an 18-metre tower behind United Video on King St.

Nearby residents said they had not been consulted about it even though it would be built as close as 10m to some properties.

At a public meeting last month, residents raised concerns about the visual impact of the tower, the possible effects of radiation, the wind noise it would generate, and the degradation of property prices.

After receiving complaints from concerned residents, ICC environmental and planning services director William Watt emailed Chorus asking the tower be built elsewhere. While Chorus was not breaching any laws, it had a moral responsibility to consider residents' concerns, he said.

"If this tower were to be placed alongside my own property, while I might accept the current `science' regarding (radiation) emissions, I would still be very concerned about the appearance of a tall tower close to my boundary and about the wind noise it is bound to generate, so I can understand why the residents are agitated," he says in the email.

He proposed two locations for the tower on Herbert St that would be more acceptable to residents but Chorus turned these down, he said.

Chorus community relations manager Kathy Wiltshire said the tower's design would be altered to meet community concerns. It would be a slim-line version with antennas flush-mounted. The alternative sites proposed by Mr Watt were unsuitable because they were too close to Windsor North School, and would not achieve the required coverage, she said.

King St resident Caren Hall said the modifications would not change the way she felt about the tower.

"It's still the same sort of thing. But I'm more annoyed that they have hidden the whole thing from us for two years."

Her views were shared by Antrim St resident Joan Kennedy.

"It's so disappointing that they won't change their minds. They're not listening to the people. It's like we don't have any say or any rights," she said.

A 600-signature petition was sent to Telecom chief executive Dr Paul Reynolds and organisers are waiting for a response.

An act was passed last year by the Labour-led Government allowing cellphone towers and wireless broadband transmitters to be built without resource consent.

- © Fairfax NZ News