Home owners worry about proposed 40m telco tower going up next door

Home owners in far north WA dismayed by plans for 40m NBN tower Sun 2 Aug 2026 at 10:31am In short: West Australian residents living next to a proposed data tower site say they have not been consulted on the development until this month. The reserve was excised specifically for a "telecommunications facility" during a June 2025 Shire of Wyndham East Kimberley council meeting. What next? The shire opened a 21-day public comment period on the development this month. Property owners in a small West Australian town say they are angry and disappointed to have been kept in the dark about plans for a 40-metre-high telecommunications tower to be built adjacent to homes. The pole and associated infrastructure will be built by NBN Co on a parcel of land on the outskirts of the Wyndham town site in WA's most northern community. Harry Ciccotosto, who has lived near the proposed site for 15 years, is not happy about the development. "Who's going to purchase a property where the tower is that high that if it fell over it'd knock your house down?" he said. "It's ridiculous." The bush block was excised from a reserve by the Shire of Wyndham East Kimberley at a council meeting in June 2025, specifically for an NBN tower and antennas. Residents whose properties back onto the reserve said they were not officially told of the development until the shire sent out letters about the proposed tower being open to public comment from July 9 until July 30. NBN Co's site selection report was only made publicly available once the consultation period had begun. Eight sites were proposed in the report. Neighbour of seven years Glen Highett is dismayed residents were overlooked in the site-selection process. "There's closer proximity to residents here than the other sites," he said. "It should never have been on the table." NBN Co said in a statement the Durack Road site was identified through "collaboration and consultation with the Shire and involved detailed technical, engineering, and planning assessments". "The location was selected following feedback from the council on the suitability of the site," the statement said. However, Mr Ciccotosto disagrees. "Had the criteria they used to dismiss these other blocks been used on this block, it would have been the first block to be dismissed as a location because it's the closest to residents," he said. Minutes from the June 2025 council meeting show "community engagement was not required" and the excision was passed unanimously. "Not one question was asked on behalf of the ratepayers at all, it sailed through, and it's too late now," Mr Ciccotosto said. He said while there had been no consultation or information provided to landowners by the shire or NBN until this month, works had started on the site back in January. Mr Highett and Mr Ciccotosto are concerned about the tower's impact on their views across the Cockburn Ranges, potential health effects, and how the tower's proximity would impact on property values. "We're feeling sick to the stomach," Mr Highett said. NBN Co said it encouraged feedback during the public comment period. It said the investment was to improve access to high-speed broadband connectivity for Wyndham. The Shire of Wyndham East Kimberley did not respond to the ABC's questions about the site selected for the tower.NBN Co will build the pole and associated infrastructure;