By Taylah Eastwell
Construction is currently underway for a long-anticipated mobile phone tower for the Mount Evelyn township.
Workers have been at Mount Evelyn Recreation Reserve over the past week to implement the 25-metre tall monopole, which is hoped to reduce renowned black spots in the area.
Telstra have leased the 10 by six metre portion of land at the reserve from Yarra Ranges Council, after councillors unanimously approved an application by the telecommunication giant at council’s January 27 meeting.
The tower stands in a clear, flat area near the netball court and will be securely fenced.
Billanook Ward councillor Tim Heenan said at the January council meeting he “sincerely” hoped that the placing of the tower would fix some of the network coverage issues in Mount Evelyn.
“We do have issues in Mount Evelyn and we have had some issues of late with 4G,” Cr Heenan said.
“We do need a lot more understanding not only from Telstra but also from other phone corporations that we have had ongoing problems for many, many years and I sincerely hope this is going to be one to fix it more than others,” he said.
Regional General Manager for Telstra in Victoria, Loretta Willaton said “Telstra is aiming to have new Telstra mobile coverage being delivered to local residents by the end of May 2021”.
“We understand the enthusiasm to have the project completed and operational as quickly as possible,” she said.
The Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) said health authorities, including ARPANSA and the World Health Organisation have examined the scientific evidence regarding possible health effects from tower base stations.
“Current research indicates that there are no established health effects from the low exposure to the RF EME from mobile phone base station antennas,” the ARPANSA statement reads.
