High-tech eyesores blot suburban landscapes | Herald Sun

Posted on March 15, 2012 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

Monopoles

HUGE smart-meter towers being built in parts of Melbourne are distressing residents and councils powerless to stop them.

Electricity company SP AusNet, which insists radio frequencies emitted from the structures are safe, has constructed eight “monopoles” 30-40m high. More sites are being assessed.

Knox City Council’s Angelo Kourambas said riled residents living nearby were mainly concerned about the “visual blight” of the towers.

“They stick out like the proverbial,” Mr Kourambas said.

Planning permits are not needed as they are an essential service under the Telecommunications and Electricity Industry Acts.

The towers transmit digital meter data in a similar way to mobile telephone technology.

SP AusNet, which services 640,000 customers in eastern Victoria, is erecting the structures to support a wireless system known as WiMax.

Other distributors said they did not need to build separate towers, as they were using different technology.

Monopoles constructed over the past three years are at a Rowville shopping centre carpark, a VicRoads reserve in Greensborough, and within power sub-stations in Croydon, Boronia, Bayswater North, Ringwood North, Ferntree Gully and Pakenham North.

Antennas or radio equipment have instead been attached to existing poles such as high-voltage and telco towers at another 11 locations.

The company said smart-meter communications equipment was only installed in residential zones when industrial areas were unsuitable.

Maximum radiofrequency exposure was less than 1 per cent of the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency’s allowable limit.

“‘SP AusNet conducts a comprehensive site selection and design process to identify the most appropriate location for each WiMax base station to provide the most effective communications coverage in the area and to minimise the impact on local communities,” the company said in a statement.

collierk@heraldsun.com.au

MELBOURNE’S MONOPOLIES

>> How many are there?

Eight

>> How big are they?

30-40m (a mobile phone tower is typically 30m)

Why a tower?

>> Reasons include the geographical spread of SP AusNet’s customer base, and the forecast growth of its region. SP AusNet says it is more efficient and reliable than other systems.

>> What radiation do they emit?

Radio frequency levels are within Australian guidelines, governed by the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency. The standard enforced in Australia is the Radiation Protection Standard for Maximum Exposure Levels to Radio frequency Fields – 3kHz to 300GHz

WHERE THEY ARE

* Dorset Rd, Croydon substation

* Wadhurst Dr, Boronia substation

* Glen Park Rd, Bayswater North substation

* Warrandyte Rd, Ringwood North substation

* Beales Rd, Greensborough VicRoads Reserve

* Glenfern Rd, Ferntree Gully substation

* Kelletts Rd, Rowville Rowville Lakes Shopping Centre

* Racecourse Rd, Pakenham North substation

via High-tech eyesores blot suburban landscapes | Herald Sun.

Posted in 3kHz to 300GHz, Smart Meter, Sp Ausnet, WiMAX | Tagged , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Moreland Council calls for smart-meter halt – Moreland Leader

Posted on March 15, 2012 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

MORELAND Council has backed a residents’ fight against smart meters.

At last night’s meeting the council voted to write to Energy Minister Michael O’Brien requesting he order power distributor Jemena to stop installing the meters until the government had investigated their safety and made the results public.

It comes after confusion over whether the meters have been “exploding” after Jemena replaced 11 meters in Moreland, which it said were damaged by power surges and vandalism.

Cr Enver Erdogan’s motion included providing council resources to support “residents’ democratic right to debate the issue” and a campaign spearheaded by the Broadmeadows Progress Association.

Cr Erdogan said the State Government should have consulted the community before implementing the plan to replace conventional electricity meters with smart meters in all Victorian homes and businesses by the end of 2013.

“We should be able to choose,” Cr Erdogan said.

His motion received a round of applause from the gallery.

via Moreland Council calls for smart-meter halt – Council – News – Moreland Leader.

Related: Moreland smart meter scare

Posted in explosions, Meetings, Moreland Leader, Smart Meter | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Information session with Jemena 15th March 2pm-7pm

Posted on March 14, 2012 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

The public are invited to an information session hosted by Jemena about Smart Meters. They will be available to answer your questions from 2pm-7pm at the ELECTORATE OFFICES of Christine Campbell, 416A Bell Street Pascoe Vale VIC 3044.

Update to this meeting

Posted in Meetings | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Smart meter fire risks? – Today Tonight

Posted on March 14, 2012 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

The installation of smart meters is compulsory in hundreds of thousands of homes across the country, but there are real concerns about their safety. With worries that they can blow a fuse and even explode, putting homes at risk, a new campaign has been launched to get Governments to think again about smart meters. via Smart meter fire risks? – Today Tonight.

Posted in Blowing up, ETU, explosions, Fire, Media, Safety, Smart Meter, Today Tonight, Videos | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Smart meter health concerns – A Current Affair

Posted on March 14, 2012 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

They call them smart meters but a growing number of homeowners disagree. They’re claiming the new power monitoring devices are actually bad for your health.

via Smart meter health concerns on MSN Video.

Posted in A Current Affair, Media, Smart Meter, Videos | Tagged , , , | 11 Comments

I understand that Contract law requires CONSENT

Posted on March 14, 2012 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

“I understand that Contract Law needs CONSENT – I DO NOT Consent to a Smart
Meter being installed, and this is what I have done to stop it”. Click here to read more

Posted in Meetings, Smart Meter | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Moreland smart meter scare – Moreland Leader

Posted on March 12, 2012 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

MORELAND residents’ safety fears over smart meters have prompted Wills federal Labor MP Kelvin Thomson to investigate the electricity distributor installing them.

Mr Thomson last week wrote to distributor Jemena calling on it to look into claims it used inferior meters and tell him who tested the technology prior to installation in Pascoe Vale, Coburg, Glenroy, Hadfield and Coburg North.

>> Are you concerned about meters being safe? Post a comment below.

It comes amid confusion over whether the new meters are “exploding” after Jemena replaced 11 meters in the Moreland area, which it said were damaged by power surges and vandalism.

Mr Thomson wrote that he was “advised that the electronic switching component in your model is of poor quality and that it can fail, following a power surge event”.

Jemena spokesman Scott Parker said there was no basis for Mr Thomson’s claims. He said it was one of four distributors using Secure Australasia meters.

Mr Parker said Jemena and the National Association of Testing Authorities tested the meters, whose components were designed and tested to be compliant with 13 different Australian standards.

Broadmeadows Progress Association will call on Moreland Council to join its fight to halt the roll out of smart meters “until there is a satisfactory resolution to their safety”.

Spokeswoman Sonia Rutherford invited concerned residents to join its push at this week’s council meeting on March 14.

via YOUR SAY: Moreland smart meter scare – Local News – News – Moreland Leader.

Posted in Jemena, Smart Meter | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Safety of smart meters needs to be questioned – Bendigo Advertiser

Posted on March 10, 2012 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

I read with great pleasure the letter of February 25 headed “Smart meter critics need close examining”, by Michael Grounds of Strathfieldsaye, following my letter of February 24 headed “American academy opposes smart meters”.

It is clear from his letter that Michael Grounds has taken the trouble to find out what the academy has to say, and has made up his own mind about the questions raised about the health effects of radio microwave radiation from smart meters on the people of Bendigo, especially the young children, who are much more vulnerable to radio microwave radiation than adults, and who must live with the consequences of our actions, and of what we allow to happen.

I wrote the letter in an effort to urge people of Bendigo to find out for themselves about the effects of radio microwave radiation on their children and themselves.

Mr Grounds has set them an example. The full text of the letter from the academy appears on stopsmartmeters.com.au

For those seeking more information, try Smart Meters in Victoria: Information and Concerns-Version 2, on the same site.

Brian Clarke,

Castlemaine

via Safety of smart meters needs to be questioned – Opinion – Letters to the Editor – General – Bendigo Advertiser.

Posted in Microwave, Smart Meter | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Public Meeting – Citizens of Horsham & Wimmera Towns

Posted on March 8, 2012 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

Citizens of Horsham & Wimmera Towns who are concerned about Smart Meters are invited to a Public Meeting.

Next Monday 12th March, 7pm at Horsham Sports & Community Club, Baillie St, Horsham Meeting hosted by local Stop Smart Meters Coalition members

“The Truth always finds a way of revealing itself, always.”

Update from this meeting

Posted in Meetings, Smart Meter | Tagged , | 1 Comment

UPDATE TO :Delegation to visit the Energy Minister!

Posted on March 5, 2012 by Stop Smart Meters Australia

This is an update to the Delegation to visit the Energy Minister! of last week.

The Hon. Michael O’Brien, Minister for Energy and Resources, was nowhere to be found last Friday the 2nd of March when a delegation of over 20 representatives visited him at his electoral office.

Numerous letters of request, dating back to early December 2011, have been sent to Minister O’Brien, asking him to meet with representatives from community groups around Victoria concerned with the smart meter rollout. To date no reply had been received.

For this reason, a community delegation decided to visit Mr O’Brien’s electoral office (after being informed that Fridays are his electoral office days) to hand deliver another letter requesting that he meet with community representatives as a matter of urgency. A petition and resolution from a recent community meeting were also left with his office staff.

Despite two witnesses allegedly sighting Mr O’Brien in his office about half an hour prior to the delegation arriving, Mr O’Brien was nowhere to be found at 11:00 am.

When his electoral staff were asked if they knew where he was, they replied they didn’t know of his whereabouts. Not even his staff could explain where he was?

Posted in Energy Minister Michael OBrien, Smart Meter | Tagged , , , , | 18 Comments