Hills folk left angry by planned tower
This week?s story on the cell phone tower planned for Maungaraki was a slightly weird reversal of the kiwi tradition of non-conformism. The Petone Herald attended a meeting of Maungaraki residents worried about the effects of proposed cell tower that could be built in Honeysuckle Grove. Aspiring mobile phone provider NZ Communications wants to build the tower as part of its planned network. Fronting up to the 50-odd people at the meeting were representatives from the Hautaki Trust ? a Maori group that forms the bedrock of the company. Recent and distant Maori history in New Zealand has involved various iwi and groups fighting the Establishment to save everything from their culture to their land to the environment. In this case they were the Establishment ? a big-money telecommunication company fighting to make its case to the locals. And they did have to fight just to be heard as the angry Maungaraki folk hammered the NZ Communications reps. In the end I understand Hutt City councillor David Bassett had to step in and arrange a follow-up meeting between delegations from both sides. I hope there?s more fruitful dialogue in that meeting. As for the debate about the tower I can see both sides of this problem. As a consumer I would love to have the choice provided by a genuine third player in the mobile phone market ? as offered by NZ Communications. Plus I?m pretty sceptical about the supposed health risks of the radio waves coming from the tower. Almost every kiwi clamps a mobile phone to the side of their head on a daily basis ? but suddenly they get worried by towers? But the locals have some very valid worries. Who wants a big ugly tower built on their doorstep? And how will that big ugly tower affect property values in the future? I?m fairly certain nobody bought their home knowing the tower would be built nearby. The deadline for submissions on the tower?s resource consent application to the council closes October 7. I expect there were plenty of them.
