WATCH: Residents strongly oppose 30 metre cell tower
Residents say that a 30 metre tower will be impossible to disguise and will permanently break up the skyline, destroying the central nature of the community and views of the Krantzkloof Nature Reserve down into the Molweni valley.
A PROPOSED special consent and relaxation application for the installation of a cellphone tower has sparked outrage among residents in Forest Hills. Concerned residents gathered at Sherwood Drive on Saturday, 26 November to protest and raise awareness of the application. It requests that the eThekwini Municipality amend its Town Planning bylaws in the area for the installation of a 30 metre high cellphone mast and its associated infrastructure be planted in a residential home.
“They are preparing to put towers all around the neighbourhood and it does not seems like they have a limit. This must be regulated. The tower proposers are asking for the law to be relaxed, but this is exactly why we came to live here, we want council to uphold and maintain the bylaws,” said resident Lionel Bousefield.
The demands for the opposition include a thorough environmental impact study to determine the damage that the cellular tower will cause to the Krantzkloof Nature Reserve and that a neutral third party, not affiliated with cellular companies, determine the adverse health effects that a tower will cause to people living in the area.
Resident, Renate Grobler, said the proposed cellular mast has cost her the sale of her house.
“My potential buyers chose to opt out three months into the sale and are adamant that they will not be buying. I want to move to Botha’s Hill, but I cannot if the deal is stopped. I am stressed out because I had already bought the house and if the sale doesn’t come through, I am stuck,” she said.
The residents also said that a 30 metre tower will be impossible to disguise and will permanently break up the skyline, destroying the central nature of the community and views of the Krantzkloof Nature Reserve down into the Molweni valley.
Jo-ann Griessel and Darryn Cox live next door to the house proposed to accommodate the structure and are concerned about how it might affect their lives.
“The tower will be in the home owner’s back yard which we are closer to than he is. We have young children and don’t know how the radiation will affect them and once its there, the property value will go down. It’s not that we are opposing because we live right next door, if they decide to move to another road, we will still object.”
The public is urged to submit objections to the municipality by Monday, 5 December via e-mail to kim.hoareau@durban.gov.za or hand deliver it to the Regional Co-Ordinator: Outer West Region, Land Use Management Branch, Ground Floor, 22 Delamore Road, Hillcrest. Alternatively, you can join the neighbourhood watch’s movement on Facebook, visit www.facebook.com/Forest-Hills-1-Cell-Tower-Objection.
