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DETERMINED Bishopscourt residents plan to take on cellphone giant MTN after the Protea subcouncil received an application from the company to erect a base station in the upmarket neighbourhood.

After the matter was discussed at a subcouncil meeting last week, Celdri de Wet of CEBO Planning, which represents 16 objectors, says that if the application should be approved, her clients will use every available opportunity to appeal the decision.

The proposed site for the tower is Erf 12, Bishopscourt, where the cellular service provider will build a base station compri?sing a 6 m high tower, with one panel antennae attached to the side of the tower, and an equipment container surrounded by palisade fencing to form an enclosure of approximately 14 m².

Warren Petterson, a property consultant who speaks on behalf of MTN, says that over the years, MTN has received numerous complaints from its users about bad reception in the area.

"Complainants are residents in the area as well as commuters. The location for the site would have originated as a set of GPS coordinates, and is, in fact, well suited, being away from the residences on an unused part of a large property."

George and Sue Bylos, two of the objectors, live next to the proposed base station. They say they are in even closer proximity to the base station than the owner of the property.

"Besides visual impact, health is our biggest concern. We have done extensive research and found such base stations are definitely not good for one's health, especially one?s eyes. And this base is just about 50 m away from our bedroom!"

Added to that, they say they do not experience bad cellphone reception at all.

To this, Petterson says their fears are "a common phenomenon when discussing cellular communication".

He says, however, most households have several cellphones, all of which are used regularly by users who expect an adequate ser?vice.

Another resident in the area, Shelley Sandell, whose late husband suffered from a malignant brain tumour, says, "There is a strong indication that the illness was caused by cellphone radio waves. I therefore do not want a cellular antennae or base station in our neighbourhood."

According to Petterson, 376 letters were sent to all the residents of Bishop's Court during the public participation process last year, but a few residents allegedly did not receive any such letters and feel they were ignored.

Beverley Boswell from Klaassens Road says, "I didn't even have a chance to lodge my objection letter; I only learned about this from neighbours. And I really do not want the outstanding view spoiled by an unsightly tower."

The application has been referred back after the applicant and objectors presented their case to the subcouncil. The councillors were not convinced that all alternative sites had been explored, nor that the visual impact had been adequately addressed.

"There are two existing masts in Kirstenbosch. Why can't one of them be shared? Or why can't one be built on top of Wynberg Hill, which is municipal land?" asks Sandell.

Councillor Owen Kinahan, chairperson of the subcouncil, requested the applicant to provide more detailed information on the matter by the next subcouncil meeting on Tuesday, 19 February.

Petterson says that if the application should be refused, MTN will appeal. Should this not be granted, the only alternative would be another application on a nearby property.

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