After rejecting a proposal to develop a mobile telecommunications tower at a Parkwood reserve, the City of Canning voted to approve one at a similar location in Queens Park.
At its July 19 meeting council voted in support of the 31-metre Vodafone tower on Queens Park Reserve.
The tower will be about 110 metres from the closest houses and 190 metres from St Norbert College.
Earlier in the meeting the council voted down a proposal to develop a tower at a reserve in Parkwood after much public opposition, but said there had not been enough opposition to the proposal for Queens Park.
At the meeting a resident requested the vote be postponed but this was not heeded.
Councillor Patrick Hall supported the motion and said the few complaints received about the proposal did not warrant rejecting this tower.
“We have seen almost no resistance at all,” he said.
“If we’re not going to put these towers in the City of Canning where are we going to put them?”
Councillor Tim Porter said though the towers were often unpopular because of their visual impact, ensuring the community had reliable mobile and internet connections was an important job for the city.
“Better reception is better knowledge,” he said.
“In Queens Park this will help the residents rather than relegate the suburb with others which have bad internet connections.”
The city conceded the tower would be a noticeable site around the area but said it was a necessity if residents wanted good reception across the suburb.
Alternative sites had been investigated but no buildings were said to satisfy Vodafone’s service objectives.
The tower was said to be visually similar to existing light poles on the reserve, would not impact plants and wildlife in the area and was expected to raise the city about $25,000 a year from service providers using the tower.
Councillors Jesse Jacobs and Ayse Martli are representatives of the Mason Ward, which Queens Park falls into.
Mr Jacobs said he had contacted residents and knew it was an unpopular proposal.
“I haven’t heard one person say they want this,” he said.
Ms Martli and councillor Margaret Hall, whose children went to the nearby St Norbert College, said they also opposed the development.
At the vote the council supported the motion 6-5, with councillors Pauline Tarrant, Ayse Martli, Jesse Jacobs, Lindsay Holland and Margaret Hall in opposition.
