By JESSE GRAHAM
A NEW mobile phone tower for East Warburton will not be built or switched on until next year, while Steels Creek and its surrounds will have mobile phone coverage in time for the next fire season.
New Telstra mobile phone base stations, announced by the Federal Government in 2015, are set to be constructed in Dixons Creek and East Warburton, to cover two of the Yarra Ranges’ largest mobile phone black spots.
Funded through the Mobile Black Spot Programme, the Dixons Creek station – which will cover the Steels Creek area and its surrounds – is slated by Telstra to be switched on in the third quarter of 2016.
The East Warburton station, however, will not be constructed or switched on until sometime in 2017, according to the rollout map.
When asked about the rollout timing, a Telstra spokesperson said “a number of factors” influenced the construction, including acquiring a site, getting approval from local and state governments, design and consultation with the community.
“Significant work occurs behind the scenes, including design planning, community consultations, the formulation and development of planning applications and working with local councils to get the best outcome for everybody,” the spokesperson said.
When asked whether bushfire risk was a consideration when timing the rollout – Warburton and its surrounds were rated as the highest risk for bushfires in the state – the spokesperson said Telstra worked closely with the government to schedule construction.
“Risk to life and property from bushfire was a major consideration in the selection of the sites in Victoria,” they said.
O’Shannassy Ward councillor Jim Child said that a site had been selected, but that negotiations hit a “stumbling block”, with a landowner not wanting to lease their land for the base station.
“So now they’ve got to negotiate another site,” Cr Child said.
He said that coverage in the Upper Yarra was improving, with a Telstra base station in Millgrove coming online in September, and discussions continued about an Optus tower in Yarra Junction – “but that’s early days at the moment,” he said.
“If I’m not successful next October, at the election, at least I can walk away with a legacy that I left on the ground, to say that we really improved the telecommunications outcome in the Upper Yarra,” Cr Child said.
“With the tower … at the RSL at Yarra Junction, that improves coverage, it takes the load off of the Mount Victoria infrastructure and, now, with Millgrove coming online, well, gee, that’s an even better outcome.
“So we’ve got fantastic coverage for those emergency situations, but also for businesses and tourists coming into the Warburton valley.”
A temporary mobile phone tower named a Cell on Wheels tower was established in the East Warburton area earlier in the year, for the fire season.
Cr Child said that bringing another temporary tower in for the fire season was in the hands of Emergency Management Victoria (EMV), and thanked the body, Emergency Services Commissioner Craig Lapsley and Premier Daniel Andrews for organising the tower for the previous fire season.
“What I’m hoping for is to get the permanent site up – we don’t want this temporary infrastructure all of the time,” he said.
The Telstra spokesperson said the company urged residents not to rely on their mobile phones in natural disasters, such as bushfires, as the infrastructure “can be impacted”,
“Therefore, it’s critical for people to have a number of information sources available,” they said.
“These may include radio, television, or the emergency.vic.gov.au website.”
The spokesperson said the Dixons Creek base station would be one of the first to be switched on under the programme.
