As if neverending road construction weren't enough, now our sleepy little burb is being threatened with an invasion by the big bad communications industry.
The Rogers empire wants to install a 75 foot cell tower on the West Island in order to provide what it describes as improved service to the area.
Anyone in the greater Waste Island area getting dropped calls on their iPhones? Didn't think so.
Anywho, the communications behemoth conducted what we presume was an exhaustive and detailed survey of the area and has now chosen a location for it's giant antenna.
On top of one of the many office buildings in the area?
In an industrial park?
How about an abandoned brown field?
Nope.
The Rogers rocket scientists decided they want to plop their ugly steel contraption smack in the middle of a suburban residential greenspace, in a small forested area located directly behind a local park with a well-used soccer field and about 100 feet from several community homes.
Surprise, surprise, the neighbours (of which we are one) are none too impressed. I believe the proper term would be 'pissed.'
To select a location in the centre of a residential community ranks pretty high on the list of all-time mind-numbingly moronic corporate decisions. Particularly considering that only a few blocks north of the location is one of the area's largest industrial parks,
In a recent letter, the public relations trolls have given residents 30 days to submit their 'feedback' on the project. The company gets 60 days to address resident's concerns before the issue is punted to Industry Canada. Who, incidentally, have the final say. Not the community, not even the municipality of Pointe-Claire, who was informed, in no uncertain terms, that they have no say in the matter. Communications infrastructure is strictly the purview of the federal government and it is entitled by law to expropriate any land it wants for such projects.
If any of this sounds familiar it's because the town of Chateauguay is going through precisely the same thing. Residents have taken Rogers to court to block them from erecting a tower on the fringe of a residential community. The community actually won the first round in court, although an appeal is pending.
It was comforting to know that Industry Canada got involved by siding with the residents. They called into question the company's preferred location near a residential neighbourhood rather than an industrial park a mere 200 metres away. The dispute is unique in that the land Industry Canada recommended as an alternative is owned by a Kanawake woman, who is refusing to sell. Neither Rogers or the woman are willing to budge. Stay tuned on that one.
I've never thought of myself as a NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) kind of person. I don't have time for knuckleheads who buy a house at the end of a runway, or beside a rail line, and then complain to the government about the noise and pollution. We bought our house because it was a quiet neighbourhood with lots of green-space. Now we face the possibility of a massive, microwave-belching, towering steel eyesore almost literally in our back yard.
The location makes little if any sense to residents of the neighbourhood. Many are rightfully mindful of the company's claim to be open to their concerns. The fact that the company is considering the site is reason enough to make one wonder what goes on in the planning department at Rogers. Fuelling this absurdity is the number of reasonable and logical alternatives such as an abundance of available and accessible industrial land. One would presume it would be a lot easier to install a tower next to a major highway rather than squeezing massive steel gridwork through narrow suburban streets. Not to mention the public relations nightmare involved in razing a forest, sending frogs and bunnies hopping away in terror, to spew microwave radiation upon young children in the playground below.
But, hey, what do I know?
Rogers has already stated that it would base its final decision on the degree of opposition to the project, but it also hinted it might defer to Industry Canada if it can't get what it wants.
I'm sure I'm not the first, but allow me to put it as clearly and succinctly as possible: WE DON'T WANT YOUR TOWER HERE.
Can you hear me now?
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