We received a request from Amplitel Pty Ltd (on behalf of Telstra) for a 20-year exclusive lease over a portion of land within the Grange Recreation Reserve (the Reserve). The purpose of the request is to enable the construction of telecommunications infrastructure (31.5m monopole and equipment shed) to address long-standing mobile phone and digital service issues for residents, businesses, and visitors specifically in Grange but also surrounding areas.

The lease requires two small, fenced areas of land up to a total of 60 square metres in size, to host a 30.8-metre-tall telecommunications tower and equipment shelter.

Under Council's Telecommunications & Electricity Infrastructure on Council Land Policy, Amplitel were required to demonstrate that they have undertaken a comprehensive analysis of alternative, potential locations in the area for the proposed infrastructure, along with providing the rationale for their recommended location (eg at the Reserve). Amplitel advised that there are no alternative locations that would resolve the existing service issues to a satisfactory level.

At its meeting on 26 August 2024, Council resolved to acknowledge the lease request from Amplitel and conduct public consultation to understand community views, before any consideration of the requested, exclusive 20-year lease over a portion of the Reserve.

The proposed lease site within the Reserve was adjacent to the northern end of the car park off Fort Street (Figure 1). This location within the reserve was chosen for several reasons, including advice from Amplitel that further south would have better service outcomes, it offered convenient service access, and met the requirements of the 2021 amended Community Land Management Plan (CLMP) for the Reserve.

A 5m x 7m private fenced area (in front of the trees) would host the proposed telecommunication equipment shelter. The telecommunications monopole would be positioned nearby, in place of the nearby sports lighting pole, with the sporting floodlight to be relocated onto the telecommunication pole (at the Lessee's expense). The sports lighting would be installed on the monopole at its existing height of 14.5 meters, maintaining the current lighting lux level on the reserve. Council staff would retain access rights for lighting maintenance.

The top of the monopole was proposed to be covered by a shroud to conceal ancillary equipment for a neat appearance, with the finish of the pole to be a dull, neutral colour.

Figure 1

We engaged with residents, reserve users and visitors (including on-site sporting clubs), and the wider public on the lease request. Consultation on the proposal occurred in late September to late October 2024 for a minimum period of 28-days.

All property owners and residents located within approximately 400m+ of Grange Recreation Reserve boundary and reserve Stakeholders received direct notification of the proposal. Onsite signs shared the details with reserve users and visitors, and the wider public was informed through a public notice, social media notices, and on our public Your Say Charles Sturt project page.

To find out more about the proposal and what was consulted on, including important background information, site plans and helpful documents and links, view the consultation project page.

You can view the high-level engagement outcomes below or read the complete Community Engagement & Feedback Report for more detail.

A report was presented to the Council meeting of 9 December 2024 (Item 6.121) and is available to view in the Council meeting agenda. View and download the agenda & report here.

The purpose of this report was to present the Community Engagement & Feedback Report and to determine how to proceed with the lease request on a portion of Grange Recreation Reserve.

Based on the feedback from community engagement on the lease proposal and updated advice from Amplitel, the staff recommendation was to amend the proposed location of the lease site within the Reserve further north near the existing equipment shelter and cricket practice nets. This location would interfere less with sport and recreational reserve users, is further away from the sports clubrooms and playground, allows service access, and will continue to maintain the minimum 100m distance from any residential properties.

While initial instruction from Amplitel was that the proposed location was as far north as they could go to get the best service outcome for consumers, they agreed to amend the proposed location after hearing concerns expressed at the onsite community drop-in session on Saturday, 12 October. While not their preferred location, it's a compromise for the community that would still have good outcomes for service coverage and acknowledges their advice that they have exhausted any other viable locations for their infrastructure in the area.

Given this updated location was not part of the consultation process, the recommendation proposed that the initial consultation catchment area, reserve users and visitors, and all participants of the consultation be notified of the updated, proposed location. The purpose of this is to provide the community an opportunity to share any additional feedback specifically about the new location, before it's presented back to Council to decide how to proceed with the lease request.

At the meeting, Council approved the recommendation to amend the proposed lease location in the reserve. Community notification sharing the updated proposed lease location and opportunity to share any further comment on the proposal related to the new location will likely occur in February 2025, after the Christmas and school holidays, to ensure equal opportunity to participate in this process.

You can view all decisions approved by Council at the 9 December meeting in relation to this lease request by reading the relevant outcomes in the minutes here.

Feedback Snapshot: What we heard in response to the Proposal

You can review a high-level summary of the community engagement outcomes below.

A detailed Community Engagement Report has been prepared which summarises the outcomes of the consultation process and details the feedback we received on the lease proposal over a portion of Grange Recreation Reserve. Read the full Community Engagement Report.

To find out more about the initial lease proposal and the consultation process, head to the consultation page here.