The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) has reaffirmed a number of key planning principles for Telecommunications Facilities with a recent decision.

Objectors had sought a review of Manningham Council’s approval of a 23.5m high Optus facility in Wonga Park, a fringe suburb in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs.

In seeking review of the Council’s decision the Objectors claimed that “The tower will result in radiation hazards that fail to accommodate the precautionary principle in assessing the health standards referred to in the Code”.

In considering whether the proposal adequately address health requirements, the Tribunal member stated that “I am satisfied that taking a precautionary approach the facility is well within the required standards for electromagnetic energy emissions”.

The Tribunal also addressed the issue of whether the number of Objections to the proposed monopole is relevant. The objectors claimed Council had failed to recognise the volume of opposition to the tower from the local community. The Tribunal found that the Council “should not necessarily be swayed by the number of objections, but the merit of these objections and the issues raised by them, as they relate to the decision requirements of the planning scheme and Planning and Environment Act 1987”.

MCF Program Manager Matt Evans said the Tribunal’s decision was an important reaffirmation that the number of objections is not the most important issue. “It is not the weight of numbers, but rather the weight of argument that is important”, he said.