Telstra is looking to build a new mobile phone tower at a sports oval in East Devonport.
Amplitel, a Telstra subsidiary, has applied to Devonport City Council for a permit to build the tower at Girdlestone Park on Caroline Street.
The plan would replace an existing 30-metre council light pole with a new 35-metre steel monopole carrying the relocated sports lights and a Telstra 4G and 5G base station, with antennas reaching 36.3 metres.
Amplitel says the tower is needed because East Devonport has no mobile base station of its own.
Coverage currently comes from facilities west of the Mersey River, which the company says have limited room to grow.
The site is a council-run sports complex that is home to the East Devonport Football Club and Devonport Little Athletics.
Amplitel says it chose the oval from six options because it reuses an existing pole instead of adding a new tower and keeps the structure away from homes.
The nearest house is about 170 metres away, with an aged care centre to the west and farmland to the north and east.
Because the tower is taller than the 10 metres normally allowed in the zone, it must be assessed against additional planning rules.
Amplitel calls the extra height the “minimum practical height” needed to meet its coverage goals and says the monopole’s “slimline profile” would keep it from standing out.
The site also sits within Devonport Airport’s obstacle limitation area and the plans say the tower would breach the height limit for that surface by about 7.8 metres.
Amplitel says the Civil Aviation Safety Authority has assessed the tower and accepted it at the proposed height.
If approved, construction would take about eight weeks. The council is seeking public feedback before September 23.
