Muizenberg residents object to base station

Muizenberg residents are up in arms over a proposed base telecommunication station comprising 12 antennae mounted on a 25m-high monopole to be built near Main Road.

Cape Town - Residents and property owners in Muizenberg are up in arms over a proposed base telecommunication station comprising 12 antennae mounted on a 25m-high monopole to be built near Main Road.

If given the go-ahead, the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) base station, which includes four equipment containers, would be built close to the Casa Labia, a national monument, and other buildings along Muizenberg’s historic mile, which the city revamped recently at a cost of R40 million. Prasa has applied to the City of Cape Town for approval to do building work within a Heritage Protection Overlay Zone, but there have already been more than 100 objections.

Peter Wright, director of the Muizenberg Improvement District, said he was appalled that Prasa was even considering putting up such an unsightly structure.

“It has taken us so long to get Muizenberg back on its feet so why should we have something like this here?”

Ros Morris, manager of the restaurant at Casa Labia, said they had put a petition together objecting to the proposed base station which she said would have a negative effect on their sea views.

Eckard Polter, who owns Knight’s Villa next door to the Casa Labia, said a 25m-high construction would be an eyesore in an environment with a rich heritage value.

In his letter of objection he wrote: “To let telemasts of this size be erected in residential areas or areas of special significance is counter-productive. It starts a devaluation of private properties, reduces investment and ultimately reduces the council’s rates income.”

Warren Petterson, of Warren Petterson Planning, who put in the application on behalf of Prasa, said the station would be a dual purpose site.

“Part of it is to provide Prasa with telecoms to improve signalling, plus they would also allow other telecoms companies to use it.”

Petterson said they would be sensitive to people’s concerns and could modify the structure within certain parameters, such as reducing the height. He said the technology used would eventually mean an end to cabling, which would reduce theft and mean fewer train delays.

Johan van der Merwe, the city’s mayco member for energy, environmental and spatial planning, said the time-frame for public participation had ended on May 11 and that the applicant would now be invited to comment on the objections received.

After that, an assessment of the application would be done, taking into account the criteria listed in Section 99 of the Municipal Planning By-law of 2015 and the Telecommunications Mast Infrastructure Policy.

He said all of the concerns raised by the objectors would be taken into account. The decision would be made by the Municipal Planning Tribunal, Van der Merwe added.

helen.bamford@inl.co.za

Cape Argus