2014-08-19 Planning & Organisation Committee Agenda - Pages 1-101

PLANNING & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                 19 AUGUST 2014


The applicant also highlights that the alternative locations to the north of Pomona Kin Kin Road
would require a substantial tower located between the road and Mt Pinbarren, and would not be
an appropriate visual outcome. While the areas along Binalong Road (situated on the southern
slopes of Mt Pinbarren) were also identified within the original application, this area was
discounted due a lack of landowner agreement, and is surrounded by a number of houses within
the Rural Settlement zone, that would view any tower in this location.

The applicant contends the current proposal is in the best location to provide service to the
surrounding residents. The applicant notes that they have redesigned the entire NBN fixed
wireless network for the Sunshine Coast and Gympie areas, so as to reduce the height of this
tower from 40m to 30m and take advantage of the existing screening vegetation on the subject
site. The applicant has also actively consulted with community information sessions and consider
they have achieved the right balance between providing appropriate coverage and minimising the
visual impacts of the tower.

Network Coverage Map
The applicant highlights that the tower will provide service to approximately 230 houses in the
Pinbarren area. This is achieved by direct line of site from the top of the tower to surrounding
houses within a 3-5km radius around the antennas. The proposed plans indicate that there is to
be three antennas on the tower, providing coverage to the north, south and east. NBN Co
indicate that Cooran and the Rural Settlement zoned areas of Pinbarren have been planned to
be serviced with the NBN by either Fibre to the Premises or Fibre to the Node.

The applicant reiterates their previous response, outlining they do not issue coverage maps to
show which areas/houses will directly benefit from this service until the network has been
physically built and tested. This is because there may be areas on the fringe that may
alternatively benefit from satellite services. Rather, the development would provide a competitive,
reliable broadband to over 200 houses, where communication services are often poor, consistent
with the Overall Outcomes of the Infrastructure Uses Code of The Noosa Plan, which seeks
residents have access to adequate levels of infrastructure to meet their needs.

While the applicant still has not provided detailed coverage maps for the likely tower
infrastructure, attachment 2 has been generated by officers to provide a graphical overview of
the coverage areas based on the above mentioned parameters.

CONCLUSION
The applicant has responded to Council’s request for further information on alternative sites
within the Pinbarren area to locate the tower, concluding that the alternative sites would require a
50m+ tower, located closer to the major road network and Rural Settlement zoned properties.
The current proposal is considered to strike the most appropriate balance in terms of providing
appropriate levels of coverage, while minimising the visual impacts on adjoining residents.

Although the applicant has declined to provide coverage maps for the proposed tower, a
coverage map has been generated by officers based on the parameters mentioned in the
application. This map indicates that the applicant’s assertion of approximately 230 houses
gaining coverage from the infrastructure is roughly accurate.

The proposed tower at Grahams Road is set amongst existing vegetation and is an acceptable
distance away from neighbouring properties and the major road network, so as not to be visually
dominant or obtrusive. It is considered the following grounds are sufficient to support the
proposal:

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