Residents upset by 2degrees cell tower | Hawkes Bay News | Local News in Hawkes Bay

A 2degrees cellphone tower being installed down a semi rural Hastings road has caused upset among nearby neighbours.

The 25-metre "monopole", for which groundwork has begun, on a private orchard property along Tollemache Rd, had people wondering why they were not consulted.

When fully erected next Wednesday the tower will stand about 10m from resident Andrew Logan's boundary line and 85m from his house, making it clearly visible from his garden and the road.

Telecommunications provider 2degrees has a policy to: "advise nearby residents 10 days prior to a cell site being built," director of corporate affairs Mathew Bolland said.

However, in this instance the rule did not apply because: "the nearest building is almost 100 metres away".

"We have adopted a different approach than in residential areas adjacent to a number of houses," he said.

Mr Logan, had not heard a thing from the landowner or 2degrees and felt he at least should have been told of the work going on next door.

"It's all happening very quickly and we are certainly yet to be consulted.

"An absentee neighbour has consented to a tower there. My biggest concern is that there's a public perception about the danger of radiowaves, and that it might affect the re-sale of my property.

"We have been here for 25 years and we have had a good run, now this. We were given no chance to object, it is a huge tower, this is a huge issue and work has already started."

Mr Logan found out about the tower only when he rang his neighbour last Saturday to ask about the construction work being done near his boundary.

" I asked if he was digging a well and when he told me it was a cellphone tower, I said, ' are you joking?' he said, 'no I'm not'."

Hastings District Council communications manager Paul Evans said legally there was nothing the council could do, as cellphone towers were controlled by a national law that dictated local policy.

He said unless the law was breached, the council was not involved.

"The National Environmental Standard is set by the Government, sometimes we are not even advised they are being built," he said.

"There is no legal standing for us to consult anyone."

The contentious cell tower comes just three months after Mahora residents complained about the construction of a 2degrees pole on an industrial property in Williams St and four months after Taradale retailers, were faced with a 20-metre monopole in their shopping area.

2degrees said the company tried to either use an existing cell site, or place antennas on roof tops before seeking new sites for celltowers in industrial or commercial areas.

"If that's not possible we look for open areas such as reserves, away from residential areas or private land, which means they may be less visible," Mr Bolland said.

"Sometimes that's not possible and we need to look for locations that are the least obtrusive to people in those neighbourhoods, while working with our other sites to provide good mobile coverage."

After the Williams St tower was constructed, 2degrees stated the monopole was one of 28 planned to give customers better access to the expanding network.

As for questions around radiation being bad for the health of nearby residents, Mr Bolland said there was little chance it would be an issue.

"Cell sites are independently assessed by a government agency which publishes the results online. The results show our sites at just two per cent of the allowable limit, are well within the national safety guidelines."