By Charlene Macaulay
Hoppers Crossing residents have expressed their dismay at plans for a phone tower at Hoppers Crossing Reserve on Morris Road.
They are calling on Wyndham council and the telecommunication provider to consider alternative locations for the tower.
In August, Wyndham council called on the community to have its say on the proposed Vodafone and Optus towers along Clearwood Drive, Truganina; Howqua Way, Manor Lakes; McGrath Road, Werribee; Jamieson Way, Point Cook; Morris Road, Hoppers Crossing; Saltwater Promenade, Point Cook; and Station Street, Little River.
The towers will be on council-owned open spaces, sports fields or community centres and will fill mobile coverage gaps.
Of the 14 objections received, 13 raised concerns about the proposed tower at Hoppers Crossing Reserve on Morris Road.
Speaking at last week’s council meeting, Hoppers Crossing resident Sandra Kerr said there were other locations close by that were more appropriate.
“During the asthma storm event, it was not mobile phone coverage that was the problem – the problem was that triple-0 could not handle the number of calls,” she said.
“What evidence is there that this green space, in a residential area and right up against housing … is the best location for a 25-metre phone tower?”
Fellow Hoppers Crossing resident Steve Hardeman, who successfully objected to the installation of a Vodafone phone tower at Hunt Court Reserve in 2016-17, said he believed shopping centres were more appropriate locations for phone towers.
The remaining submission came from the Point Cook cricket and football clubs, who were concerned about putting a phone tower on their main ground, the No.1 oval. As a result, it is now planned that the tower will be located in a different location at the reserve.
A decision on the leases will be made at an upcoming council meeting.
