Telco towers spark fury among powerless Auckland residents

About 3500 telecommunications towers up to 20 metres tall will be built across the country over the next decade, sparking fury among residents who don't have any say about it.

Neither of the companies building the towers - Connexa and Fortysouth - will disclose where the towers will be built, some as early as this month, and the government says it doesn't hold this information.

The Telecommunications Forum, which represents the two so-called "tower cos", said this was due to the risk of sabotage and commercial sensitivities.

Michael should be focused on preparing for his wedding on Sunday, but instead, he's become embroiled in a battle to stop a five-storey-high telco tower being built next to his Aliford Ave home in Auckland's One Tree Hill.

"The plan was, get married, have some kids here," he said. "Two local schools, great location.

"Obviously, I would love to have a good honeymoon afterwards, but this is going to be on my mind. Trying to not think about this tower that's going to be going up in my front yard, basically."

From 8 October, amendments to the Resource Management Act mean the towers can be built without resource consent and, therefore, without public consultation.

Michael, who is a chartered civil engineer, is baffled by the location that's been selected.

"Every day, after work, I come home and I try to write something to the council, write something to local boards and whatnot. This is actually draining a lot of our time, basically the residents' time.

"I think everyone around the country who's affected by this is also doing the same thing, trying to find solutions to it. I don't think anyone with common sense would allow something like this in a residential zone."

Another Aliford Ave resident, Eamon, doesn't understand why the towers can't be built in the many industrial and commercial areas nearby.

"We aren't allowed to build above eight metres around here - nobody can build above eight metres - but somehow, these private tower companies, Connexa and Fortysouth, they're able to go double that standard, unchecked by the council," he said.

"Auckland Transport can't stop it, Auckland Council can't stop it. It seems like they've got a free pass to just come into any residential neighbourhood and put these massive five-storey towers up.

"It's not like a NIMBY situation - there's like a tsunami of these things coming."

He says the tower and associated operations box will also create a major crash hazard.

"We've a blind corner here, we've got a brow of a hill, we've got low morning sun and we've got an intersection here where... there's parking on the other side that forces the cars out onto the wrong side of the road.

"I question the competence of them actually selecting the sites and what they're doing to actually assess it properly."

Over in Grey Lynn, the area's heritage status means residents need to jump through all sorts of hoops just to install a new fence or make alterations to their homes.

No such requirements for Connexa to build a 15-metre tower directly in front of Brian Watson's livingroom window at the intersection of Murdoch Rd and Millais St - an almost entirely single-storey neighbourhood.

"It's a special area, Grey Lynn and Ponsonby. It's got real character and it seems to me that character is being overrun by a change in legislation."

Murdoch Rd resident Michele Daly is stunned by the speed at which the towers will be built.

"It's going up mid-November, so in a matter of weeks is what we're told that this construction will start here," she says. "We've got no recourse to actually even have it reviewed or halted or slowed down."

While not their primary concern, all affected residents spoken to by RNZ say the towers will inevitably have a significant impact on the value of their properties, including soon-to-be wed Michael.

"If you have a massive industrial-size structure next to your [home], who would want to live next to that?"

If it had been there when he'd moved in, "I wouldn't have purchased my house, I'll be honest with you".

When approached by RNZ, both Fortysouth and Connexa decline to provide lists of proposed tower locations.

Fortysouth says the New Zealand Telecommunications Forum is best to speak about the wider industry, while Connexa says it follows community engagement guidelines developed by the forum.

Telecommunications Forum chief executive Paul Brislen tells Checkpoint the towers are necessary to meet growing connectivity needs.

"You can't have the coverage without the technology."

He says disclosing where the towers will be constructed is risky due to the threat of sabotage.

"There's too much risk with people being willing to go and burn these buildings down, and attack people when they're being built.

"I think that's appalling and I wouldn't countenance putting people's lives at risk, simply because somebody wants to keep the value of their property at a certain rate."

Brislen says the towers are becoming taller to cope with the rising level of city skylines.

"The towers need to be able to see past [taller buildings], so that they can connect customers on either side of the buildings. If they're too short, you can't get a signal.

"It's as simple as that - it's just a matter of physics."

Brislen says he wouldn't have a problem with one of the towers being built outside his house.