Locals from across the Bouddi peninsula rolled up in large numbers at a formal Land and Environment Court hearing into the proposed construction of a mobile phone tower on Wards Hill Rd at Killcare Heights.
The tower has long been planned to solve the ongoing issues of poor or no mobile phone reception across the area, though the project has been previously knocked back due to technical objections from nearby property owners.
The tower’s proponents, Optus, have been locked in a battle with a well-resourced local property owner who is understood to own a residence near the proposed tower.
Central Coast Council was tasked by the court to seek public comment on a fresh development application by Optus to build the tower.
Online public submissions were sought, with a substantial number received.
Of the 281 personal submissions received by the council, 238 were in support of the DA proposal and 43 were opposed, resulting in a calculated support rate of 84.7% and an opposition rate of 15.3%.
Numerous locals bemoaned the fact that they did not receive an email from Council informing them of their right to attend and speak at the hearing.
The hearing, held on site by the court, was designed to allow the court to see first-hand the location and hear from locals both for and against.
Over 120 locals attended the hearing at 10.30 am on Monday, July 14, at the site of the Council’s water tower at Killcare Heights.
The meeting was presided over by a Commissioner of the Land and Environment Court, with barristers, solicitors and specialists for both Optus and the lead complainant attending.
A dozen locals were given a chance to speak in public at the hearing.
No recordings or photographs were permitted, though CCN’s correspondent noted 10 locals presented their cases.
Four locals spoke against the proposal, largely based on the visual amenity of the tower and the likely need to further clear vegetation around the site.
Fears of so-called 5G radiation were also mentioned as reasons to oppose the tower.
Resident Rodney Dawson presented a series of draft drawings showing the likely impact of the proposed tower.
He also questioned the claims of locals who were advocating for it based on utility.
Eight locals spoke in support of the development, most citing the dire state of the area’s lack of mobile coverage and the associated issues relating to emergency services, safety and the lack of ability to perform essential financial online transactions.
President of the Killcare Wagstaffe Progress Association, Michael Alsop, put a case to the commissioner based on a decade of work the association had done to advocate for improved mobile coverage, which he said was hampering emergency responses as well as blocking vital business and personal transactions by locals and visitors.
Alsop said he had the full backing of the other community associations in the area as well.
Another local, medical specialist Liz Hickie, asked the court to take into account the community’s need to stay connected both during personal emergencies and more generally to be able to connect with family, friends and professionals.
“Digital connection is essential for the old and young and is not a luxury,” she said.
The court retired after hearing submissions to mediate between the parties to try and find a mutual agreement; the outcome of that mediation has not yet been declared.
If a mediated agreement is not forthcoming, the Land and Environment Court Commissioner will make a ruling.
So ridiculous, useless council and useless state and fed government continually failing tax payers and rate payers. I live in Killcare Heights and in 2025 we can’t phone 000 in an emergency and our nbn is still provided over ancient and unreliable copper phone lines using VDSL technology that can barely achieve download speeds of more that 50m. Shame on nbn, shame on Central Coast Council, shame on Gordon Reid you have continued to fail to provide residents with reliable phone and internet service after decades of neglect and incompetence.
Thanks for the media coverage. It almost seems like another round of ‘hitting our heads against a brick wall’, considering THE wealthy resident objecting to the communications tower seems determined to block it.
Of course, he wasan’t there but he sent a Barrister, Her assistant, an environmental expert & 3 other potential legal folk to cotinue to block this project.
Feels like someone will have to die, before we get our tower!!!!
It was also noted that Gordon Reid’s team were in attendance to listen to the issues, & we also acknowledge that Gordon Reid our local member has also done his best to ge the tower information to the Federal Minister for Communications.