Neighbours of Judith and Neil Herdon have rallied around the couple upset at plans to build a cellphone tower in their suburban street.
Photo: RNZ / Robin Martin
A group of New Plymouth residents fear plans to build a 15m high telecommunications tower in a suburban street will shave thousands off property values.
Connexa has applied for consents to put up the tower on the road reserve at 2 Norton Place in Spotswood to increase capacity for its client Spark.
Neil and Judith Herdon have owned the house at the corner of Norton Place and Ngamotu Road for 12 years.
They believed the tower should not be built in a suburban area.
“This is under 2.5m from our boundary and it’s 15m high, plus of course, it’s got associated cabinetry 1.8m high and 3m long which apparently emits a constant sound. It’s an industrial installation in a residential street.”
Neil Herdon feared it would undermine the worth of the rental property.
“The houses on Manakohi Street, Norton Place and on Ngamotu Road will all have the effect of this huge tower with all its cabinetry which we all believe will devalue these properties immensely.”
Neil and Judith Herdon believe a 15m high cellphone tower proposed to be built in the road reserve outside their Spotswood property will take thousands of dollars off its value.
Photo: RNZ / Robin Martin
Near neighbour Glenys Jury had additional concerns.
“I live in Norton Place and I’m really quite frightened it’s going to devalue our property, it’s going to be a complete and utter eyesore and I believe it’s going to be a danger for the traffic coming in and out especially of the Onuku Taipari Estate coming out on to this busy street.”
Connexa had notified nine households within 50m of the proposed tower of its plans, including the Jury and Herdon families.
Murray Wells – who lived on Ngamotu Road – was not so lucky.
“Myself and [neighbour] Trevor we didn’t know anything about it until Neil came around and told us. There was nothing in our letterbox, nothing.
“It’s stink surely they could find somewhere better to put it than here. It’s dangerous, it’s going to screw with all the traffic coming out of here. It’s bad enough now.”
Judith Herdon said the couple had submitted on Connexa’s resource consents application.
“We suggested several alternative more industrial areas around here like Onuku Taipari Domain down there, down by Paritutu, Port View Crescent, Centennial Drive. They are all industrial sites and they’re all in this general area.”
Judith Herdon said she was not holding her breath.
In a statement, Spark said as mobile usage continued to grow rapidly and shifted to more data intensive activities like streaming, sharing content, and using apps, demand on mobile networks increased each year.
“In an increasingly digital world, mobile connectivity has become an important part of everyday life, helping people stay connected and access essential services, including being able to contact emergency services like 111.
“In some areas, including parts of New Plymouth, this growing demand is placing pressure on existing cell sites. Each site has a finite amount of capacity shared across the people using it at any given time, which can become constrained as usage increases, particularly at busy times.
Spark said it was investing $100 million annually in building and upgrading its 4G and 5G network to ensure it remained reliable and ready for the future.
In a statement, Connexa said it looked at alternatives to Norton Place for the Spotswood tower.
“Multiple locations were assessed against technical, safety, and regulatory requirements, including access to power and fibre, coverage outcomes, and potential interference from terrain or surrounding infrastructure.
“The selected site was identified as the most suitable option as it delivers the required coverage and performance improvements for the area. Alternative locations, including the nearby semi-industrial areas, would not deliver the same network outcomes in the areas experiencing the greatest demand.”
The New Plymouth District Council said it had received four land use resource consent applications from Connexa for cellphone towers, two of which had already been approved.
Consents for Norton Place and at 2 Handley Place were still being considered.
It said the proposals were identified as controlled activities, which meant the council must grant consent, but that the towers may be subject conditions under the District plan.
No conditions were applied to the two approved consents.
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