Dereel

From Jacob Weston on Facebook:

Hey Dereel you might want to check this out Wendy has been planting her seeds of propaganda again please check out the website and comment on her rant.

(end quote)

Unfortunately that doesn't seem to work. I put in a comment, but the moderator doesn't seem to have liked it, so it hasn't been published. But nobody moderates my diary, so you can read it there.

Basically, it seems that satellite is far superior to fixed wireless, and the NBN has been conning us so that they can install smart meters. Haven't we seen all this before?

Greg

After Wendy's interview with WIN News, a number of people were upset that only the opponents of the NBN tower got air time. Greg Nyary did something about it: he called up WIN and asked them to interview the people in favour of the tower. There was no mention of it here, but on 29 January the WIN team came down to interview the people in favour. Despite lack of publicity, 50 or 60 people came. More information in my diary

Only one problem: WIN news wasn't happy about the video of Wendy's news item being published on this site, which is why Scott took it down. But it also means that the new item for the proponents can't be put up. Did anybody keep a copy?

Greg

At the hearing, the applicants/objectors may only rely upon relevant planning matters and not those grounds ruled to be not relevant.

It's a dry read but quite interesting, it's very clear that VCAT will in no way let Wendy say that the towers have a health impact and she can only object on Visual Impact, Noise, Amenity, Access and Compliance with State and Local planning policy.

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/vic/VCAT/2013/59.html

edit: For reasons yet to be determined the VCAT hearing notes have been "moved" from the AustLII site, for the time being the text of the hearing can be found here: http://pastebin.com/kZtLnYgn

UPDATE 29/1/13: Win News very politely asked that the video of their news story on the Dereel NBN tower be removed and so I have complied with this request. For those still interested in the content of the video I have transcribed it here:

ANCHOR:

A group of Dereel residents outraged over a proposed 40 meter NBN tower has taken its fight to VCAT. It says the potential levels of radiation are life threatening and argues the technology is not needed given most of the area has satellite coverage.

REPORTER:

Wendy McClelland says she's been on a government disability pension for 10 years from over exposure to radiation.

WENDY MCCLELLAND:

They recognise that the radiation is a serious problem for me and I must keep away from telecommunications towers. Now they want to put a radiation tower near my property which will just about kill me.

REPORTER:

She says she's forced to wear protective clothing in the vicinity of radiation. Chronic pain, nose bleeds and face swelling are just some of her symptoms. She has support in Dereel for a campaign to get NBNco to look elsewhere for a site to place its tower.

LORRAINE CARRANZA:

I'm not against progress... but I am against progress when it's at the cost of human life.

WENDY MCCLELLAND:

The CEO at the NBNco admits that you can't make a buck out here so it's not really worthwhile using wireless

REPORTER:

The head of NBNco told a Sydney conference that its services would need to be heavily subsidised to make money in region centres. Golden Plains shire council say planners can't vary or dismiss government standards for electromagnetic radiation. It said the proposal is now in the hands of VCAT which will only consider ammenity and visual impacts.

The residents are pleading with NBNco and the council to recognise their concerns saying they are at their wits end. A date for the next VCAT hearing is yet to be scheduled.

UPDATE:

The ABC have done a follow up piece: http://www.abc.net.au/technology/articles/2013/01/23/3674993.htm

As have Delimiter: http://delimiter.com.au/2013/01/24/nbn-tower-life-threatening-claim-residents/

For the past 3 months or so I've had particularly poor reception of ABC TV. Other channels aren't affected. I've called ABC on 1300 13 9994, and they don't want to know because we're in a marginal area, as they put it (the Digital TV taskforce thinks we're in a good reception area). So ABC says it must be my fault. That would change if other people also have problems. If this affects you, all you need to do is to call them up and tell them. The more people call, the sooner things will get fixed.

Greg