AFTER more than 10 years of lobbying residents at Winchendonvale and Mimosa now have a mobile phone tower.
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Over the years landholders have worked together to lobby the Federal Government and Telstra and have told their stories about the measures resorted to in a bid to communicate. From climbing up ladders to finding the highest hill on a property or learning spots where “one bar of service” could be accessed the frustrations over mobile service had all but boiled over.
Just before Christmas last year a mobile tower was erected with funding under the Federal Government’s Black Spot Program. Bob McCormack of Winchendonvale said the tower has boosted service significantly from Marrar to Temora and Mimosa.
“It put’s us in the 21st century,” Mr McCormack told The Rural. He said during harvest grain prices were changing by the minute and it was a disadvantage if you couldn’t access phone or internet service. “People now run on instant communication … I have been getting about 10 calls a morning (since the tower was installed,” he said. Mr McCormack said it made him question how many calls he was missing out on before. And this could potentially mean lost business.
He said the the tower had been a team effort. He commended the work of fellow landholders the media, the Coolamon Shire and farm lobby groups like GrainGrowers.
Meanwhile, Tony Clough lives at Wantabadgery and has also been lobbying for a mobile phone tower. “This might come as the light at the end of the tunnel but it’s taking a hell of a lot of time,” he said.
He is the group captain of Junee Rural Fire Service and said there had been two fatalities near Wantabagery in the past six months. He said it was now time to act for this region. Mr Clough explained that two-way radios were often used in lieu of mobiles.
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