Written by Sophie Richardson
An application for a mobile tower in Narrabeen on the Northern Beaches has left residents concerned for local wildlife.
Retirement village RSL Lifecare made the request due to poor mobile reception in parts of the precinct, but over 50 official complaints on the project means it will now be deliberated by the Northern Beaches Local Planning Panel.
Rachel Cornecca, a local resident who created a petition against the project, said: "There’s so much wildlife here, it makes it such a special area."
She said various studies have found “when these towers get put up, the wildlife disappears”.
Dr Bandara, an advisory board member to the Environmental Health Trust, said that species that use electromagnetic fields of the earth to navigate such as bees and birds are particularly at risk as cellular towers emit electromagnetic waves that interfere.
She said that while several independent studies “that investigated the impact of wireless devices on bee colonies show very clear detrimental effects”, not enough research is being done in this area.
Dr Bandara said the decline of bees is a “huge problem as some 80% of food production depends on pollination by bees”.
Councillor Rory Amon on the Northern Beaches council said that the impact on wildlife has been considered in the EBPC report, but “if there are genuine concerns about particular species that might be impacted by the development . . . those submissions need to be made so the panel can consider the impacts”.
He also said that community backlash is "more often about interruption" than health risks.
Ms Cornecca said: “There are a lot of endangered species around here . . . And it would be such a shame if that were all to go just for a mobile phone reception, it just seems ridiculous to me.”
See Local residents' outrage over mobile tower application for more.
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