Page 2468 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 22 August 2006
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After detailed consultation with the ACT Planning and Land Authority, Daly International apparently proceeded to inform communities that they would soon have a telecommunications tower within their suburb. And, of course, that information has occurred incrementally. We have not yet been publicly presented with a plan of where towers are going to be located all over Canberra, so we are dealing with these towers one or two at a time. Constituents usually first begin to contact my office after letters have been sent, on what seems to be an ad hoc basis, to residences in close proximity to the planned towers.
Time and again I have been contacted by angry Canberra residents who were not informed of towers being built over their back fence, or were given only a small amount of time to respond to the development applications. Many people found their concerns completely ignored by ACTPLA and Daly, and others were outraged to discover that they actually had no rights to be heard on whether or not they wanted a tower in their community. From what I have seen at public meetings, I believe that at times the attitude towards genuinely concerned residents has been quite patronising.
Interestingly, the first rush of notifications went out before Christmas, just after schools had broken up for the year. The Campbell primary school community was very upset that by the time they knew—that is, at the resumption of schooling in term 1 this year—the consultation period was already over. 3G telecommunication towers are being built near schools, playgrounds and aged care facilities. They are appearing in nature reserves, on top of bridges and within metres of private properties. Although the government was given a plan detailing where all facilities will go, residents are learning about their own tower only as Daly unveils units incrementally. The Canberra community is not being informed of where all the towers will be located in the city.
Residents have a multitude of concerns about these towers. Some are worried about the unsightly look which impedes the view out of their windows—the view for which they often bought their homes. They are worried about what they see as they walk on nearby nature reserves, especially as each tower does not stand alone but is accompanied by what is called an “outdoor unit”—a windowless box-shaped shed which, of course, is susceptible to graffiti. However, graffiti is probably one of the least of the problems because it can be thwarted to some extent by turning these unsightly boxes into public art spaces, of which we have now got quite a few around the city. Other problems are more intractable. For instance, there is concern about what having a tower near houses could do to property values.
Of paramount concern is the health impact of erecting 3G towers so close to where people live. Mobile phone towers, much like radio transmitters, emit electromagnetic radiation, the shorthand for which is EMR. There are many conflicting views as to whether the level of EMR emitted by phone towers is a significant health concern. Telstra and its experts will tell you that your microwave oven is more dangerous. Other papers, including one from the International Journal of Cancer Prevention 2004, suggest that, although it is currently too early to judge, a precautionary approach is needed.
Radio frequency radiation, such as that emitted by mobile phone towers, has been associated with a range of health problems, including brain tumours, lymphomas, memory and learning problems, memory and concentration problems, and changes to
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