Church cellphone mast soars towards heaven after planning rumpus

The City of Cape Town has approved a cellphone base station on a church property next to a crèche‚ despite residents’ claims of a fraudulent planning application.

An initial application for a base station at the AGS church in Durbanville was refused in April because it did not comply with the council’s telecommunication mast infrastructure policy.

But‚ the application was approved on appeal last month by mayor Patricia de Lille‚ prompting further accusations of foul play from neighbours and concerned residents.

Objectors claim the company involved‚ High Wave Consultants‚ made a fraudulent representation to the council by pretending to investigate alternative sites but not doing so.

In their submission document last year‚ High Wave said it had identified an alternative site (erf 8304) near the church “but consent could not be obtained from the landlord”.

In a letter to the appeals authority‚ a group of residents said: “We have contacted the occupant and he has provided a sworn affidavit that no such enquiry by [High Wave] ever took place. A decision favourable to the applicant will be tainted by fraud and thereby defective by law.”

The base station application was also slated by Durbanville Community Forum chairman George Sieraha‚ who said in a letter of objection: “In all my years dealing with cell masts this must rate as one of the worst.

“This monstrosity just cannot be allowed in this particular area. This is right up against a residential area and no matter how one tries to disguise the fact‚ this will be very noticeable.”

High Wave managing director Pieter Pretorius denied anything fraudulent about the application.

“It was never stated that they [the erf 8304 landord] were approached and rejected the offer.”

The application was motivated by the need for better coverage.

“There are only two masts that service that whole area‚ one on top of the mountain. There really is a need‚” said Pretorius.

Base stations allow for the speedy transmission of electromagnetic signals carrying data for gadgets like cellphones‚ laptops and Ipads. The more gadgets drawing data‚ the more base stations are required to ensure speedy transmission.

The City of Cape Town defended the decision to approve the High Wave application on appeal.

De Lille’s spokesman‚ Zara Nicholson‚ said: “The city takes fraud seriously. Upon proper consideration of the allegation of fraud by our forensics department‚ there was no objective or actionable evidence of fraud.

“The information as submitted and/or requested in the land-use application met all of the legislative requirements and was duly processed. The mayor therefore granted the consent sought during the appeal process.”