LAWRENCE GULLERY
A plan to erect a 55-metre communications tower will be challenged by a handful of neighbouring property owners who say the structure could pose health problems and decrease the value of their homes.
Shurview Radio and TV Limited wants to build a broadcasting tower on a Mill Road property
in Clive but must first have its plan approved by the Hastings District Council's hearings committee on Monday.
Four neighbouring property owners had objected to the tower, however, with most worried about the visual impact the mast could have on their homes.
They said not enough work had been done in the plan to show the tower could be screened by trees and a shelter belt.
The submitters also said the tower could be a distraction to motorists, causing accidents on the nearby 100km/h road; there was already a tower nearby in Whakatu and no alternative locations had been considered.
Mill Road property owner Peter Dawson and neighbour, Stuart Wicken and Jacqueline Bark, will speak to the hearings committee on Monday outlining why they don't want the tower built near their homes.
The tower would transmit AM radio signals, would be set up as a commercial venture where the owner, the Read Family Trust, of Havelock North, could hire out the transmission capabilities to others.
The tower was planned for a property owned by the applicant's son, who would also be involved in maintenance work of the structure. A shipping container next to the tower would contain equipment such as a generator and air-conditioning unit. The mast would be remote-controlled.
Shurview Radio and TV's application passed the conditions set by the New Zealand Standard for radio frequency radiation, which said the electro-magnetic radiation levels would comply with the national standard.
The firm also provided an assessment of the potential visual effects which also favoured the plan and said the effects would be minor.
The council's environmental planner, Susan Jones, recommended the application be refused, however, because of insufficient landscaping to screen the tower and the impact on the amenity values of neighbouring properties would be significant.
The firm would be able to put its case to the hearings committee on Monday, however, which would have the final say on the matter.
