Rodney Stevens
Telecommunications giant Telstra has lodged a development application DA 2023/0749 with Clarence Valley Council for a telecommunications facility to be erected at Ewingar and submissions from the public are invited.
The $71,500 facility is proposed to be installed at 584 Ewingar Road, Ewingar, on the site of the proposed new Ewingar Rural Fire Service station.
The Statement of Environmental Effects SEE lodged with the DA details a proposed small cell telecommunications facility with 4G technology as part of the Federally funded Mobile Phone Blackspot Program.
Before the site was selected, Telstra explored options of nine sites around Ewingar, and chose 584 Ewingar Road as it was supported by the Rural Fire Service and can provide the required communications network coverage with minimal environmental impacts.
Work proposed at the site included installing a 20-metre steel monopole on a new concrete pad, installing a 1 metre 4G omnidirectional antenna on the monopole, installing a new equipment cabinet and a new battery reserve cabinet with plinths on concrete pads, installing a proposed new electricity meter, installing a 5 metre by 5 metre security fence, and creating a 10 metre asset protection zone around the compound.
In addition, the site will contain ancillary equipment including AC isolation power box, amplifiers, cabling, combiners, consumer mains, feeders, fibre cables, a GPS antenna, signs, and other ancillary equipment necessary to ensure the proper and safe operation of the facility.
In information Telstra distributed in December, the telco stated the telecommunications facility was needed at Ewingar as there is no mobile phone service in the location, and the proposed facility will provide much needed connectivity to emergency and rescue services.
Telstra state the small cell facility is a mini base station designed to provide mobile phone and data coverage to the immediate area, and as small cell bases produce very low energy, they also produce very low electromagnetic energy or EME.
“The proposed small cell facility at Ewingar will comply with the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency Standard with a maximum projected EME level of only 0.04% of the allowable limit that it is permitted to transmit over a 24-hour period,” Telstra stated.
The DA is on public exhibition on Clarence Valley Council’s website until 4pm on January 29.
Submissions from the public are not confidential, are considered public documents and can be lodged at https://www.clarence.nsw.gov.au/Building-and-planning/Advertised-DAs/DA20230749-584-Ewingar-Road-Ewingar