CLASS ACTION ON TOWER

THE State Government and parents at a Gold Coast primary school are wrestling a corporate giant to stop it from building a 31-metre tall phone tower in its neighbourhood. Parents say the future health of the children must be paramount.

THE State Government and parents at a Gold Coast primary school are at loggerheads with a corporate giant trying to build a phone tower in its neighbourhood.

Vodafone wants to build a 31.5-metre tall telecommunications tower at Southport’s Eleanor Perkins Park about 350 metres from Southport State School.

The proposal has been met with a fiery response from Education Queensland, MPs and parents at the school who say the tower will be too close to the 551 pupils.

However, Vodafone said the tower was needed at the Southport park to improve coverage in the area.

A report commissioned by Vodafone to the Gold Coast City Council said Southport State School pupils would be exposed to radiation levels that were 0.33 per cent of the nationally allowed limits.

The guideline is enforced by the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency, despite the agency’s website stating there was no evidence telecommunication towers had adverse health effects on nearby communities.

Nine objections to the Vodafone proposal have been lodged with council. They include submissions from Education Queensland south east regional director John Norfolk, Southport MP Rob Molhoek and father-of-three Simon Howard.

“My concern is for the (551) students and what health impacts a tower this size would have on them,” Mr Howard said.

“Even if they (experts) don’t know now what impacts the tower would have on their health maybe they should err on the side of caution.”

The State Government has no authority on where towers can be built. However, its guidelines say towers should not be built within 200m of a school.

“I request the department’s objection to the proposal be lodged and an alternative site be found to ensure the facility is not located near a school or TAFE,” Mr Norfolk wrote in his submission.

A Vodafone spokeswoman said the company considered the radiation from the tower when choosing that site.

“The site is designed to comply with the electromagnetic energy exposure limits set in place by the Federal Government, and backed by the World Health Organisation,” she said.

A federal inquiry into towers was held in 2011, sparked by concerns from former Greens leader Bob Brown and MP Andrew Wilkie about radiation levels.

Two proposed bills said telcos should be forced to better consult with the community before building a tower. However, neither bill was adopted.

Gold Coast City Council is expected to make its decision on the proposed tower on May 29. If approved, it will the 27th telecommunications tower in Southport.

If the council rejects the tower application on grounds that it is unsafe, ratepayers could be forking out to battle Vodafone in court.

In 2006, Telstra successfully beat Hornsby Shire Council in a court decision after its plans to build a tower outside of Bathurst, NSW, was rejected.