The community of Aston Bay in Jeffreys Bay is up in arms with the Kouga Municipality’s plans to install a 36 metre high 5G telecommunications tower at a residential home in the area, allegedly without following the correct procedures of public participation to inform the residents of the small town.
Christie de Klerk, chairman of the Aston Bay Ratepayers Association, said he first learned about the proposed installation of the 5G tower after the COVID-19 lockdown when he noticed that there was signage placed around the identified property in Hoepoe Drive, once restrictions had been lifted.
Furthermore, he said that only nine residents were issued with a public participation letter, some of whom no longer stay in town, while the rest of the town was not formally informed about the tower.
“Public participation plays a big role in what happens in the community, and since the necessary steps were not followed, we needed to query the way the public participation was handled by the municipality,” said De Klerk.
Disgruntled about the lack of information shared by the municipality, and the overall plans for the installation of the tower, he said they drew up a petition where 250 residents objected to the tower’s construction.
De Klerk said the petition was handed over to Executive Mayor Hattingh Bornman on May 13.
“The 5G tower is going to be approximately 36 metres high and right in front of someone’s house. This tower will also negatively impact local businesses.
“There is also scientific evidence that the tower poses a risk to people’s health.”
In a letter addressed to the Kouga Municipal Manager, Charl du Plessis, De Klerk said the ratepayers of Aston Bay and Marina Martinique felt strongly that the municipality was not taking the views of the local community seriously.
He further said it cannot be right to construct a 36-metre mast next to houses in a residential area without informing the neighbourhood or residents a few metres from the construction site.
“Procedural fairness is of utmost importance. Affected persons and communities must be given adequate notice of the action and must be given a reasonable opportunity to make representations. The Promotion of Administration of Justice Act sets out this requirement,” said De Klerk.
“It is thus clear to our community that notices were inaccessible and that the process was more illusory, inadequate, and was without a deliberate attempt to take the community’s needs into account.”
Alwyn Kloppers, deputy chairperson of the Aston Bay Ratepayers Association, said that in addition to the distribution of public participation letters to only a few people, they were informed that a notice was placed in Kouga Express, informing residents about the plans for the installation of the tower in 2020, but owing to the restrictions on movement imposed during the COVID-19 lockdown, not many residents knew about the notice.
“Some of the objections to the tower are that residents were not properly informed about it, that the approval was flawed, there would be health hazards, that it is aesthetically unacceptable, and that it harms property values,” said Kloppers.
He said it is vital that a project steering committee be appointed to ensure that the construction of the tower is brought to the attention of residents, but this was never done.
“Such a steering committee would have ensured that there would be sufficient information and discussion opportunities about the construction,” said Kloppers.
Deputy Mayor, Timothy Jantjes, said the municipality did not identify the property as the location of the intended tower; instead it was registered to the Department of Public Works and was earmarked for telecommunication infrastructure.
He further said the installation of the 5G tower may proceed as soon as the applicant, SFP Town Planning, has submitted its revised building plans for the intended erection of the tower, and in respect of the site identified.
Jantjes said that any further development in this regard is therefore subject to the approval of the revised building plans.
“The land use application in terms of the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management By-law was approved in July 2022; however, the development and erection of the tower is further subject to approved building plans in line with the National Building Regulations and Building Standards Act,” said Jantjes.
He said the municipality had informed residents about the 5G tower when the land use application was advertised in terms of the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management By-law: Kouga Municipality, 2016, and a meeting was held with the affected community to inform them of the status of the project.
“The required public participation process, as required by the by-law was implemented prior to the approval of the land use application,” said Jantjes.
Commenting on whether national and international standards and guidelines were adhered to, he said the municipality, upon receipt and processing the land use application, took into consideration the legislative provisions associated with and applicable to the erection of a telecommunications tower.
Further elaborating on concerns about the tower being a safety risk, he said it is the municipality’s submission that the Department of Health was consulted on the erection of the telecommunications tower, and the municipality was advised.
“There is no convincing scientific evidence that the weak radio frequency signals from the base stations and wireless networks cause adverse health effects,” said Jantjes.
“In assessing the application and after considering the advice received from the Department of Health, the municipality attempted to give effect to the development principles as set out in the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act.”
