‘Put the tower on your stoep’

Residents living near the Kloof in Silverfields fear that a planned cellphone tower will spoil, not only the beautiful view, but also irreplaceable wildlife.

Residents of Misty Mountains and Rangeview Villas complexes are putting up a fight against the owner of Pines Resort and Eaton Towers who are in the process of erecting a 35m cellphone tower on a part of Pines’ grounds which borders the Kloof.

One of the unhappy residents, 87-year-old Miemie Stander, spoke the News about the tower which will be approximately 24 metres away from her bedroom window.

“I am worried that should they use generators to run the tower, the generators will not only give off a terrible smell of diesel but the awful noise will disturb our peace and quiet,” Stander said.

Furthermore, another resident worries that the value of their property may decline due to the tower.

Other concerns residents have is the lack of toilet facilities for the workers who are currently busy breaking ground where the tower will be erected. There is also no electricity and the company did not apply for proper permission to obtain electricity elsewhere. Another concern, the possibility of crime increasing.

Speaking on behalf of the residents, Deon Kotze’s biggest concern is the well-being of wildlife and nature found in the Kloof.

“We need the public’s support on this one. Their application to erect this tower is flawed and we are in the process of taking steps to stop them,” Kotze said.

On Wednesday, 11 November, numerous residents decided to take action when the workers showed up for day one of construction. They put up posters at the entrance to the Kloof saying “Jeff: Put the tower on your stoep”, which was aimed at the owner of Pines because of the financial gain he will get for having the tower on his grounds.

Owner of Pines, Geoff Funnel spoke candidly to the News about the residents and their objections.

“We appreciate and understand their concerns, but we are confident that the company involved has taken the necessary steps to ensure that all legal matters have been complied with,” Funnel said.

In a statement to the News, Eaton Towers announced, in good faith, they are to install a more aesthetically pleasing mono-pole structure at a greater cost than the approved lattice type mast.

“We obtained all approvals, after a lengthy process, which included a public participation meeting and conducting a further hearing where all parties could put their points forward. We will provide a full document to the attorneys acting on behalf of one of the aggrieved residents as a matter of courtesy, but all of the relevant paperwork is at the council,” Keith Boyd, Managing Director for Eaton Towers said.

They will also be reducing the height of the tower by 11 metres and half the footprint size of the tower.

“The emotions around cellphone masts often revolve around alleged health risks. Some of the most vociferous objections on this site related to this.

The World Health Organisation is very clear on admissible levels of emissions, and cellphone towers emit a tiny fraction of the recommended limits.”

The statement also stated that the emissions are non-ionising.

“While we might all wish there were a cheaper and more visually appealing way of providing cost effective communications solutions to a modernising and data hungry community, the fact of the matter is that cellphone towers form a very key part of this.”

Kotze urges those who which to support their fight to visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/groups/443493072525405/.

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