By Mikayla Van Loon
New telecommunications infrastructure has been approved for Chirnside Park by Yarra Ranges Council and is said to add to the service needs of the growing suburb.
The 61.6 hectare site located at 275 Edward Road has been selected by Indara Digital Infrastructure to co-locate Vodafone and Optus telecommunications and ancillary equipment.
A singular 35-metre-high monopole will be erected with a triangular headframe, three 4G panel antennas and 12 5G panel antennas, enclosed by fencing sized at 10 metres by 12 metres.
The location of the facility will sit roughly 580 metres from Edward Road, with 16 metre setback from Paynes Road to the monopole.
Despite receiving 40 objections to the infrastructure installation, councillors agreed it would result in better connection outcomes for Chirnside Park residents.
Falling within the Ryrie Ward, Councillor Fiona McAllister put forward the motion to approve the permit.
“We have a need for improvement in telecommunication coverage, certainly growth and a demand for services, working from home increases and a range of other needs in our communities around small business,” she said.
“But also from an emergency services and community safety perspective, having coverage as we all well know from our occurrence of substantial emergency events is critical.
“So I have no issues with what’s proposed. I’m confident and comfortable that the permit conditions address the objector’s concerns or many of them.”
Objections were raised in relation to public safety and health issues, environmental concerns relating to flora and fauna, noise, proximity to residential properties and visual amenity to name a few.
Indara senior town planner Daniel Prior said the proposal complies with the Australian Government safety standards and “mobile technology has no long or short term health effects”.
Raising somewhat of an objection to the conditions placed on the permit approval, Mr Prior said 15 metres of landscaping seemed “to be a little bit excessive”.
“The upper portions of the facility may be visible from some locations in the area. We know this is a technical requirement that cannot be avoided, as telecommunications facilities by their nature must be tall enough to protrude above the surrounding environment in order to function,” he said.
Mr Prior asked the council to consider the landscaping condition be “reduced to a more reasonable five metres” but Cr McAllister moved forward with the proposed conditions.
“I am moving unamended with the permit conditions as they stand and I do think the landscaping requirements are important,” she said.
“We have an obligation as with all planning decisions to make decisions aligned with planning provisions and amenity and visual impact is one of them. But broadly the context is a micro poll telecommunication tower in a growth area surrounded by two high voltage towers in existence 50 metres in height. So the visual impact already exists.
“Is that sufficient to say we should add more visual impact? No, it’s probably a counter argument there but the fact that it is a grey micro poll means the visual impact in an undulating topography means that actually it’s not as stark as it sounds.”
The telecommunications tower is intended to provide better 4G and 5G coverage to Chirnside Park residents, with current facilities located 750 metres to the north and 2.6 kilometres south of Chirnside Park Shopping Centre.
“This project responds to an established need with many parts of the surrounding area having poor to non-existent mobile services. This is a problem the proposed facility will help to rectify,” Mr Prior said.
“While these candidates were investigated for possible upgrading, they were unable to service the required coverage area.”
Cr Johanna Skelton seconded the motion, thanking those who took the time to make a submission and said ultimately, it came down to “if I was that resident would I feel comfortable living there and I would”.
The motion was approved with support from all councillors bar Cr Tim Heenan.
