Erection of cell towers angers residents

A new cellphone network being built across New Zealand could see nearly 100 new cell towers erected in Christchurch, raising the hackles of residents.

New company NZ Communications has approval for cell towers on 82 sites across Christchurch and another 15 sites are in the pipeline.

It has already started building cell towers in Christchurch.

However, it would not reveal how many would be erected in the city, saying the information was "commercially sensitive".

Planning laws allow the 20m towers to be built as of right in most locations, provided they are more than 20m from a home in a living zone.

Construction started on one of the towers on Hawke Street, New Brighton, this week, upsetting resident Graham Clark.

He said he first heard the cell tower would be erected near his home when surveyors arrived on the scene.

"I am pretty angry and pretty annoyed. It is not about me, it is about the aesthetics for the whole community. It is concerning for the rest of the community. What will pop up on our doorstep next? They could have found a better site for it," he said.

Other residents have complained to local councillors about the new towers.

NZ Communications has agreed to rent about 12 sites owned by the Christchurch council for new cell towers and is negotiating for more sites in the city, but most of the cell towers are planned for private land.

The company will pay the council about $8000 a year in rent for each cell-tower site on its land, in line with similar deals the council has struck with Telecom, Vodafone and Woosh.

NZ Communications had filed over 300 applications for cell sites with eight councils in Christchurch, Auckland and Wellington by April this year, and had signed an equipment-supply contract for 1300 cell-tower sites.

Council property and leasing adviser Bill Hughes estimated there were 100 cell towers already built in Christchurch for rival cellphone networks.

Hughes said the council had guidelines to ensure cell towers were built away from residential areas.

"The council is pretty careful on where these go, but they have to go somewhere because everybody has a cellphone in their back pocket," Hughes said.

"The process seems to work well and we have the minimum of complaints.

"In most cases the cell towers are away from residential areas and we tend to place these poles in suitable places like near fast-moving highways.

"I expect more applications because they (NZ Communications) need to complete their network and the council has undertaken to assist them in locating suitable sites for cell towers."

A council spokeswoman said not every application would result in a cell tower being built, but were potential sites for the company.

NZ Communications chief executive officer Mike Reynolds said the new network would create more competition in New Zealand.

"New Zealanders currently pay some of the highest mobile calling rates in the developed world. We believe this is largely due to a lack of competition. We are building a third GSM mobile-phone network for New Zealand so that Kiwis will have real choice and true competition in the mobile-phone market," he said.

- © Fairfax NZ News