The Independent Crime Against Corruption (ICAC) has told Ballina Shire Council that they will be taking no further action in respect to Council’s management of the recently erected Optus tower in Basalt Court, Lennox Head.
A community group known as Worried Householders Action Against Towers (WHAAT) lodged a complaint with the Commission claiming that Council staff had acted improperly in managing the Optus Tower.
Following media reports of this complaint, the Council provided information to ICAC on its handling in pursuing the community’s objections to the tower.
ICAC have subsequently advised that they will be taking no further action.
Ballina General Manager Paul Hickey said Council has been proactive in following through the community’s objections in trying to prevent the Optus tower from being constructed close to residents’ homes in Basalt Court.
“However it has been disappointing to see that the residents feel that Council has not done enough, as unfortunately we’ve been constrained by the Federal Government’s Telecommunications Act 1997 which allows for telecommunication fixtures, classified as low impact, to co-exist on Council land and infrastructure, without the need for Optus to obtain Council approval,” he said.
“Council has written to the relevant Federal Minister asking for the Telecommunications Act to be amended, however until that occurs we have no legal authority to stop Optus from proceeding.”
