Long awaited staff report BD24-10, regarding the proposed telecommunication tower at 75 Lindsay Rd 40, near Dyers Bay, has finally been released. Having expressed great concern regarding the misinformation, misdirection, and lack of transparency to date, this is a serious matter for the majority of residents living along Lindsay 40 and Bartley Drive.
Indicating potential utility for a tower in the greater area, the report lacks justification for this specific location.
Correspondence included in the report shows residents near the proposed site are currently satisfied with cellular service in this neighbourhood and are strongly opposed to a tower in this location. The report illuminates desire for increased connectivity from cottagers in the Gillies Lake community and a few in the Dyers Bay shoreline hamlet. However, Shared Tower Inc confirmed that the current proposed location would not succeed in improving coverage to those areas. During an April 22, 2024 delegation to council, Shared Tower informed that the 6km radius of coverage “is not a perfect circle,” pointing to diminished cell reception from the tower due to signal blockage from the landscape’s topography and forestation, as well as the obvious critical obstruction from the escarpment. The provided coverage maps illustrate the only area of improved coverage is directly in the centre of our settled rural residential area where it is unwanted.
One resident comments: “If these areas wish to have improved coverage, supporting infrastructure must be located within those same specific areas. A tower does not belong in this particular landscape and would diminish the very same features that brought us to this place.”
Residents ask “why are landowners of this rural area being asked to shoulder the burden of adverse effects when service is presumably for customers that are outside the area.”
Alternatively, we are informed that superior fibre optic infrastructure already exists at the Dyers Bay Eastlink station and Fibre Optics to the Premises is expected to roll out within the year, making a tower redundant.
The Shared Tower report made it abundantly clear that this tower won’t provide for the supportive neighbouring residents and cottagers, but will instead serve corporate interests, improving Rogers tower-to-tower wireless networking with only adverse outcomes for the our immediate community.
During the April 22, 2024 council meeting, Councillor Golden made a superb effort in questioning Shared Tower’s senior planning manager Cheyenne Zierler as to why Gillies Lake cottagers were given the false impression that they would benefit. There was no effort by Shared Tower to address misconceptions about the actual limited extend of proposed coverage by providing maps or by any other means. Instead, only vague ‘cut and paste’ email responses were provided to public correspondence. Misperception of improvement in cell reception has now been brought to light through details of the BD24-10 report correspondence.
Also during the meeting, Councillor Dowd asked some excellent questions regarding consideration of alternate sites and use of pre-existing infrastructure. Shared Tower’s vague and incomplete responses only further solidify lack of justification for this application.
Some letters of support came from businesses located in Owen Sound, Lion’s Head, Tobermory, and seasonal visitors who reside elsewhere. We can’t imagine council could knowingly support a tower for transient visitors while rendering two local residents homeless, causing an ecotourism business to close, and causing up to 30% of year round residents to be affected by illness long term as per Dr. Bray, MD.
The proposed location has been discouraged by many experts due to a number of factors, such as close proximity to full time medically vulnerable residents including susceptible children and elderly, proximity to Bruce Trail Conservancy, Niagara Escarpment Commission, and heritage sites, area of Dark Skies preservation, and an important recognized migratory bird route, as well as accessibility, disability, and liability issues.
With ample evidence provided, council has been strongly urged to vote non-concurrence from renowned medical physicians/researchers: Dr. Riina Bray, MD, Dr. Meg Sears, PhD, Dr. Margaret Friesen, PhD, Dr. David Fancy, PhD, Dr. Magda Havas, PhD, as well as: esteemed environmental lawyer David McRobert, previous president of Microsoft Canada and CEO of Citizens for Safe Technology, Frank Clegg, director of Canadian Educators for Safe Technology, Shelley Wright, director of the Electrosensitive Society, Sheena Symington and the majority of residents surrounding the proposed site.
This new clarity, following multiple procedural irregularities, protocol violations, and biased and inadequate public consultation, all previously identified in Peninsula Press letters, indicates non-concurrence to this proposed site and application is the only reasonable outcome.
Laura Vanderaa
