Flowerdale residents are turning on their mobile phones and televisions for the first time, thanks to a joint effort by Murrindindi Shire Council, Telstra and residents to have a transmission tower installed in the King Parrot Valley. Although Flowerdale is only about 70 kilometres north east of the Melbourne GPO, it is nestled in a valley surrounded by forested hills and does not receive free to air television.
Councillor Lyn Gunter said some residents had been campaigning for television access for 26 years.
“It was my job to convince Council that it needed to facilitate the project for the best outcome,” Councillor Gunter said.
On the advice of Federal Member for McEwen, Fran Bailey, Council successfully applied for a $120,000 grant under the Commonwealth Government’s TV Blackspot program for a transmission tower, re-transmission equipment and broadcasting licenses.
A TV Committee was formed, which engaged in positive community action to ensure the planning process went smoothly.
Council also received $190,000 to provide a mobile phone service under the Commonwealth Government’s Networking the Nation program. Telstra won the tender and agreed to build a mobile phone tower on which Council could install its TV re-transmission equipment. Land for the tower was donated by a local resident.
The mobile phone service was launched on 3 April and preliminary testing has shown that coverage extends well beyond the area that was planned.
TV services will be commissioned in late May.
Although residents cannot receive broadcasts from Melbourne, the tower will link them to satellite services for remote areas, including ABC-56, SBS-59, Central 7-62 from Townsville and IMPARJA-65 from Alice Springs. About 90 per cent of the programming is the same as Melbourne broadcasts, with the exception of news services, which will lack local content.
