Patrick Goldsmith, Yorke Peninsula Country Times

Recently released plans for a 30 metre Telstra tower on Blanche Street, Edithburgh, behind the post office, have sparked great concern among residents, with some adamant the project shouldn’t go ahead.

Sick of poor mobile reception, most locals concede the area desperately needs a new tower but believe it should be placed at another location. Member for Narungga Fraser Ellis and Yorke Peninsula Council mayor Darren Braund have been quick to recognise Telstra’s work in answering the call for better mobile coverage, but both also concede the chosen location is far from ideal.

Telstra has said other options have been explored but these would result in a poorer product for community members, despite a report in the development application stating otherwise.

Six sites were considered for selection, including existing towers which could be upgraded; three were ruled out for objective shortfalls and one location, beside the Sea Rescue Squadron shed, was noted as subject to a Crown land approval process.

Kylie Harris owns the property next door to the site and, along with husband Michael Stogneff and post office proprietors Darren Bland and Karen Godfrey, said a tower of this nature will ruin the aesthetics of the historical town.

The four, along with fellow locals Michael O’Connell and Keryn Dawes, agree the tower should be placed on either the golf course or beside the Sea Rescue shed, the two other viable options explored by Telstra.

“There’s no doubt we need better phone service in town, because if you come here with anything other than Optus or Telstra, which people still struggle with, you might as well pack up and go back to Adelaide,” Ms Harris said.

“But it’s in the dead centre of town, and it’s an eyesore; honestly, for me and for those others nearby, the other aspect is our proximity to it — it’s 30m tall and we’re much less than 30m away from it.

“The development application has made it out as if the whole town is commercial, but there are people who live in all nearby properties and I don’t think that’s fair.

“People want the tower, just not here.”

Ms Harris encourages anyone with an interest, regardless of proximity, to provide feedback through PlanSA before the consultation ends at 11.59pm, on Monday, November 13.

Telstra regional manager for South Australia Michael Patterson said the development application for the Edithburgh tower was lodged in response to a rise in community need for better in-building coverage, faster data speeds and extra capacity.

“To bring new mobile coverage to an area, we need to build a base station which is located as central as possible to where the majority of users are; this helps maximise coverage and capacity improvements,” he said.

“Telstra already has a telephone exchange at the Blanche Street location, so all the transmission and power equipment required for the base station to operate can also be located in one spot and there will be no disruption to other sites.”

Mr Patterson conceded it is challenging to find a site which meets the company’s technical requirements and delivers new coverage while also meeting the expectations of the community.

“Telstra did consider other locations on the outskirts of the town but, based on modelling, if we built a base station there instead the customer experience would be much poorer,” he said.

“Our technical experts believe this proposed site will make the most improvement to network connectivity in this community and help provide the best and fastest connectivity possible.”

A report prepared by Service Stream on Telstra’s behalf noted its network has severe shortcomings in the town, and to meet radio frequency objectives the station would need to be at such a height (30m) with nine panel antennas.

Mr Ellis said he hopes the reason Telstra has come forward with a proposal is because of community concerns.

“We’re extremely thankful to Telstra for listening to our plea for improved service, I know there are community members closer to the town jetty who have been struggling for quite a while,” he said.

“It’s a surprisingly tall tower, right in the middle of a beautiful town, so I completely understand the community concerns.

“I met with Telstra only last week and spoke with them about this briefly and I intend to follow up again to get a better balance between technical outcomes and community desires.”

Mr Braund said Telstra has reached out to conduct a briefing on the matter with him tomorrow (Wednesday, November 1).

“I’m concerned about the location, I don’t think it’s ideal for the town,” he said.

“Although the town is in dire need of an upgrade in service, I believe other options have been considered and perhaps should be explored further.”

Money for more mobile coverage

Grant funding has been supplied by the federal government to establish new base stations at Port Rickaby and Wool Bay.

Provided through the Improving Mobile Black Spot Program’s Improving Mobile Coverage Round, the money will be used by Telstra to build macrocell facilities in each town.

Yorke Peninsula Council mayor Darren Braund said council is pleased the government answered the call of the community for improved phone coverage.

“The Wool Bay and Port Rickaby communities have strongly advocated for improved services, and they should be commended for their efforts,” he said.

“Improved mobile connectivity is an investment in public safety and in times of crisis every second counts so having reliable communication channels can be a game changer.”

Federal Minister for Communications Michelle Rowland said the government was ambitious in its quest to narrow the digital divide in rural and regional Australia.

“These successful grant outcomes will deliver improved coverage and quality of service for regional and remote communities, motorists and tourists in target areas,” she said.

“We identified these communities as having unreliable service or coverage issues when we were in Opposition, and now we’re delivering.”

Federal Member for Grey Rowan Ramsey said he welcomed the news.

“This will be the first time a Labor government has ever invested in the mobile phone network in regional Australia and I urge them to push further along the pathway,” he said.

“I’m thankful for the commitment to Wool Bay and Port Rickaby and just ask the government to stay committed and continue the good work done under the Coalition in improving the availability and quality of mobile services in regional and remote areas.”

This article appeared in the Yorke Peninsula Country Times, 31 October 2023.