New tower under fire

A TARNAGULLA resident has started a community campaign against a Telstra phone tower proposed in the town.A planning permit has been lodged with the Loddon Shire for a telecommunications facility in Victoria Street, a site resident Pam Robinson says is just hundreds of metres from the local primary school and homes.She’s heading a campaign to see the project stopped listing concerns about the health of residents and school children and the look of the tower in the town.Ms Robinson said her biggest concern was for the students at the primary school and for parents who weren’t notified of the tower.“I spoke to the head of the school (principal Kevin Jardine) and told him about the proposal – they’d been kept in the dark,” she said.According to a letter from the Loddon Shire Council, residents have two weeks to lodge objections to the tower but Ms Robinson said the objection period came in the middle of school holidays which could potentialy reduce the number of objections.“The date to complain by is January 18 but the school won’t resume until early February,” she said.“The proposal was only sent out two weeks after the school term finished.“It’s very insidious that it was mailed after the school was closed – that way parents won’t be notified of it in time.”Advice from the Federal Government Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy specifies a “precautionary approach” for building and operating radio-based telecommunications equipment in community sensitive locations including around residential areas and schools.But information from the World Health Organisation shows the towers have shown no significant health impacts for communities where towers are present. Loddon Shire Council planning and local laws manager Tyson Sutton was unavailable for comment.Urbis Services, who are representing Telstra in the planning application, were unable to be contacted.