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Wakefield 5G tower gets go ahead
Staff Reporter
Fortysouth and One NZ will be going ahead with the proposed 5G telecommunications cell site between McGazzaland and Wakefield Fire Station.
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After locals raised concerns back in March about the suitability of the site, the companies liaised with Tasman District Council councillors Christeen McKenzie, Dan Shallcrass and Stuart Bryant to see if there were any other suitable locations. However, none were found.
Head of external affairs for Fortysouth, Lisa Mulitalo, says finding a location for a new cell site in Wakefield was challenging due to the TDC District Plan’s height restrictions.
“For the past couple of months, Fortysouth and TDC community representatives considered other potential sites including the weighbridge, a paper road and road reserve closer to the river and private land,” Lisa says. She says none of these could work due to space on the weighbridge, and future development plans and potential flood hazard issues near the river.
Another site that was considered was on council land gazetted as water works.
“The conditions that council would need to lease the land made acquiring the site very difficult as ultimately it may still need to be moved in the future due to the land being set aside for water works.”
After careful consideration, the decision has been made to go with the original proposed location near McGazzaland.
This site is in the road reserve and under the National Environmental Standards, telecos are encouraged to build in the road reserve.
“TDC consent has been granted and construction on the cell site will start in June.
“A lot of effort was made by all to explore and ensure that no other locations were available.”
This new cell site will provide Wakefield with improved mobile connectivity and capacity, and longterm resilience in the event of Civil Defence Emergency Management events. Fortysouth has also approached TDC about having a mural painted on the cell site cabinet to reflect McGazzaland and to see how they can support the installation of new signage for the park.
