The Warrandyte Community Association has received numerous complaints from residents who are up in arms over the construction of the 40 metre high SP AusNet ‘smart meter’ pole on Growler’s Hill.
“Its not just residents of Blooms Road who are right next door, but from all over. Its visible from Ringwood Road,” said WCA President Dick Davies.
“Residents’ concerns are that its an environmental disaster: ugly, unnecessary and installed overnight with little or misleading information to nearby households.
“It won’t be long before more antennae are hanging off the pole.”
WCA is aware that the tower is classified as ‘essential infrastructure’ under the ‘Green Agenda’ of both Commonwealth and State legislation. As such, it does not require planning permission – local Councils are not responsible, have no responsibility, powers or controls and do not receive timely information on construction.
“Nevertheless, it is outrageous that without anything like adequate community consultation such a construction can go up virtually overnight,” Mr Davies said.
“Whilst it is classified as ‘essential infrastructure’,its commercial purpose appears to be to install smart meters with a flexible pricing policy which shifts the business risk from company to consumer.
“An alternative could have been to transmit along the existing power network which the smart meters are connected to anyway. This possibility and other alternatives were not canvassed in Warrandyte.
Mr Davies said that Warrandyte residents were getting fed up with the stream of badly communicated planning initiatives which threatened the environment and heritage of Warrandyte.
Dick Davies
President
Warrandyte Community Association Inc.
03 9844 4686
0413 753 622
5 December 2012
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