No explanation yet over mast

Consultancy says it’s an internet, not cell tower

After last week’s article regarding the telecommunications mast that was erected at a home in Tamarisk Road, Brendan Hindes of Setplan, the consultancy doing the town planning application for its installation, explained the purpose of the mast and how the matter will proceed.

Hindes was asked several questions regarding the mast but was unable to get the answers to us in time for publication.

A follow-up question as to why the mast was erected before municipal approval or public participation remains unanswered.

According to the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act (Spluma), public participation plus an official application must be made before any work is carried out.

In his response to our initial questions, Hindes confirmed the tower was erected in April/May last year, but emphasised that it was an internet tower and not a cell mast.

He also stated that an EIA process was not required and attached a department of economic development, environmental affairs & tourism (Dedeat) document as proof of his assertion.

When asked about public participation, Hindes wrote that a land use application had been submitted to Ndlambe Municipality, but no explanation was provided as to why this wasn’t submitted prior to the project commencement as is required by Spluma.

“The municipality have recently indicated that we may proceed with the public participation component of the application,” he said. There was no explanation as to why this was not done prior to project commencement.

Hindes went on to say: “We are currently arranging for the necessary participation process to commence. This will include an advert that will appear in the Talk of the Town shortly.”

As to the purpose of the tower and whether the property had been rezoned for commercial use, he said “an application has been launched for permanent departure for a telecommunication mast and consent for a home enterprise.”

He said the mast applied for was 12m in height and was not a cell tower but an internet mast and that the Civil Aviation Authority had issued approval.

“Please note the size of a home enterprise is limited in terms of the provisions of the Ndlambe Integrated Land Use Scheme.

“Details of the application will be made available when the public participation commences,” wrote Hindes.