A telecommunications tower at Killcare Heights is back on the agenda with Central Coast Council accepting submissions for an amended application and review until March 21.
Already hundreds of letters of support for the Optus tower are streaming into the Council website.
The Local Planning Panel refused the DA in September 2024 but acknowledged the importance of providing reliable mobile service to the local area at the earliest opportunity.
The proposed 32.5m tower at 37 Wards Hill Rd, Killcare Heights, was refused, mainly due to Central Coast Council wanting more information.
The Panel considered the application did not contain adequate information to justify approval but it said there were opportunities to resolve the outstanding issues.
In November 2021, the previous planning panel approved the tower but it was overturned by the Land and Environment Court due to the application not meeting sections of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act such as not giving a valid reason for the consent and not taking bushfires into consideration.
At that time Council had recommended the application be refused.
Council mentioned: insufficient fauna surveys; insufficient information for Council to undertake an assessment about visual impacts; insufficient information about Aboriginal heritage significance; and inconsistent information between plans and reports on tree removal.
The local progress association has been advocating for more than 10 years to plug mobile phone black spots which affects about 1,300 homes and residents want everything to be done to expedite construction of the tower.
One resident said the area had a high number of visitors who probably had no idea they had patchy mobile coverage and the problems that created in emergencies.
The development application (DAR/3623/2022/A) can be viewed on Council’s website and submissions will be accepted until Friday, March 21.
Impossible to find this development application on the Central Coast Council site. I have used numerous search terms such as telecommunications tower, Killcare Heights and put in the specific development application number DAR/3623/2022/A and nothing comes up. Can you please publish a link.