Lublin. People don’t want a 50-meter tower outside their windows

Application for a building permit on a 10-acre private plot at ul. Brotherhood of Arms Towerlink Poland company from Warsaw in early February. As it turns out, not the first time.

“Last year, a refusal decision was issued in this case. The investor appealed against it, and the voivode’s services repealed it – says Jan Wojciech Matwiejczuk, vice-chairman of the Zamość City Council, long-term councilor of the Karolówka estate, within which ul. Brotherhood of Arms.

When the information about the second attempt to build the tower reached the local residents, they began to protest. They sent a petition to RMand the councilors supported their fears and reservations by adopting a position on this matter at the last February session, which had already been sent to the voivode.

A tower in the estate? Out of the question

They strongly opposed building 50-meter telecommunications tower in a housing estate of single-family houses, in addition, in a place where the spatial development plan provides only for such development. In their resolution, the councilors pointed out that the investor did not consult the idea with either the inhabitants or the owners of the neighboring undeveloped plotsor estate management. They also emphasized that no studies were presented, expert opinions and measurements showing what impact such an investment could have on people’s health and life. The councilors also pointed out that allowing the construction of the tower would lead to a decrease in the value of real estate in the vicinity. The plot on which the Warsaw company planned the tower is adjacent to, among others, with government-owned land.

– This is not about opposition for the sake of opposition, but simply this location is not good, you can certainly find a better one – argues Matwiejczuk.

Councilor Agnieszka Klimczuk is of a similar opinion, who also, like almost all councillors, expressed her opposition to the investment in Karolówka. – However, at the same time, I believe that you need to keep up with the times and be aware that new technologies cannot be stopped. In addition, locating such a building within the Zamość area would generate significant tax revenues for the budget – he argues.

There is a second request

It turns out that Towerlink Poland is also applying for a permit for its investment elsewhere. At the beginning of the week, an announcement was published in the Public Information Bulletin of the City of Zamość that the Department of Construction, Urban Planning and Protection of Monuments of the Municipal Office initiated administrative proceedings regarding the issuance of a decision on the permit for the construction of a radio telecommunications tower at ul. General Stanisław Maczek. The application in this case was submitted to the magistrate on March 9.

In this case, it is a plot of approx. over 2 thousand m. sq.m. belonging to the Municipal Transport Company, where the spatial development plan provides, among others. transport bases and depots, service stations, car parks and garages. We established that the lease agreement for this land was signed last summer for a long period, i.e. until the end of January 2032, with the possibility of spontaneous extension in the absence of notice by either party.

A city company could make a good profit from it. – The amount of rent for the lease is over 2,000. PLN net per month indexed annually starting from 2023 by the index of increase in consumer prices, goods and services for the previous year, published by the president of the Central Statistical Office, informs Krzysztof Szmit, president of the Zamość MZK.

He also adds that the lessee undertook to provide a fibre-optic line, which would be connected to the MZK office building, free of charge. What is important, however, is that the contract stipulates that the money will start flowing to the municipal company only when the investor receives a building permit and starts the investment.

So far, neither in the case of ul. Brotherhood of Arms, or ul. Gen. Maczek, the administrative proceedings have not ended. In the announcement regarding the second location, we read that natural persons, legal persons and organizational units that are parties to the case may familiarize themselves with the “projected course of the investment” at the construction department and, if necessary, raise their objections to it. They have 14 days from the publication of the advertisement to do so. It was published on March 13.

We wanted to talk to someone at Towerlink Poland about the company’s investment plans in Zamość. Failed to call. We sent the questions by e-mail. In the reply sent to us, we read that the company’s representative and designers are in constant contact with the City of Zamość, but “final decisions on the choice of location have not yet been made.”

It was also ensured that Towerlink Poland, as a company dealing with the construction and management of telecommunications infrastructure, places facilities in areas where there is no mobile telephony coverage or where this coverage needs to be strengthened.

“We do this in consultation with mobile operators and local authorities to facilitate access to better connectivity for residents and businesses. The development of digital services in recent years has resulted in increased demand for data transmission, which is why the demand for high-speed internet access forces network density” – reads the message .

Nobody knew anything

Let us remind you that residents of one of the housing estates in Puławy are bitter because of a similar investment by the same company from Warsaw. We wrote about it recently. The residents of Puławy learned that the mobile phone tower was being built in close proximity to their homes, also on a private, leased plot, only when construction work had started. They were not informed about the investor’s plans before the building permit was issued. Therefore, they sent letters with demands to suspend the investment to the starosty and the Local Government Appeal Court in Lublin. They are waiting for their consideration.