Taylors Hill residents have lost their battle to stop a mobile phone tower going up nearby after a tribunal overturned Melton council’s refusal to grant it a planning permit.
The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal has given the green light for Vodafone to erect an 18.34-metre mobile phone tower at 142 Hume Drive, commonly known as the Melbourne water tank reserve.
More than 50 residents objected to the original planning application last year, which proposed a 25-metre tower, saying it would affect their amenity and their health.
Similar plans by telecommunication companies Orange and Telstra at the same location were defeated in 2001 and 2005.
But VCAT member Michael Nelthorpe last week granted Vodafone its permit, deeming the mobile phone tower’s visual impact “acceptable” as it would not be a “dominant” feature, and any impact would be mitigated by landscaping.
Mr Nelthorpe said a mobile phone tower in an established neighbourhood was a reasonable proposal, and the current water tank at the site was “a significantly more dominant [feature] than the monopole”.
“Taylors Hill has an open skyline caused by the lack of overhead power lines and the relative immaturity of landscaping in private gardens,” Mr Nelthorpe said. “However, I expect this will change over time as gardens mature.”
Mr Nelthorpe said Melton council’s refusals of planning permits for Orange and Telstra more than a decade ago did not imply the site was unsuitable.
“The permit applicants in those earlier cases did not seek a review of those decisions, thus I have no indication as to whether these previous proposals would have succeeded or failed.”
Objections relating to health impacts from electromagnetic radiation were ruled out.
Taylors Hill resident Stavroula Singh, who spearheaded the campaign against the tower, said she was bitterly disappointed. Melton council planning services manager Bob Baggio said there was no avenue for appeal.
A Vodafone spokeswoman said the tower would address high numbers of complaints from residents about poor mobile coverage.
