Baz Hamiwka and his mother Hamiwka have been stuck with a NBN cabinet node being constructed on their front verge.
Camera IconBaz Hamiwka and his mother Hamiwka have been stuck with a NBN cabinet node being constructed on their front verge. Credit: Supplied/Andrew Ritchie www.communitypix.com.au d475439

Maylands resident unhappy with NBN Co after node placed on front lawn

Kristie LimEastern Reporter

A MAYLANDS resident will lose the view of incoming traffic and his mother’s beloved front lawn after NBN Co WA started constructing a cabinet node on their front verge without notification.

Baz Hamiwka lives on Ninth Avenue opposite The Rise and is the full-time carer of his mother, who has been living at the property since 1959.

Between October 16 and 19, NBN contractors carried out works on his verge, in preparation for the construction of a 1100mm wide, 1200mm high and 550mm deep cabinet node.

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Mr Hamiwka said he was not consulted before contractors dug a hole on his verge.

“We had some workers come prior to those dates just to mark it all and I did not think of writing stuff down,” he said.

“They started staying for more than a few hours and making noise and not even asking us; it is very annoying.

“Usually (The Rise) carpark is full and they have got people parking on (Ninth Avenue) already causing a bit of a nightmare.”

Mr Hamiwka said NBN Co WA should pay for maintenance and up-keep of the lawn, provide them with fibre-to-the-premises instead of the planned fibre-to-the-node technology and organise a carry-out disconnection of their reticulation system.

He said he contacted NBN Co WA about compensation, noise and radiation concerns.

NBN Co WA external affairs adviser Rebecca Papillo said NBN WA dropped flyers to residents as part of its community consultation process.

“In line with the Telecommunications Act 1997, we engage with the land owner (being the City of Bayswater) during the design phase and prior to commencing works provide them formal notification of our intention to install infrastructure on their land,” she said.

“We’ve been made aware of the concerns about the placement of node by a Maylands resident and have spoken with the resident to discuss his concerns.

“Discussions regarding compensation are always, by their nature, confidential.”

Ms Papillo said there was no opportunity to move the location of the node due to NBN design requirements and Maylands would be ready to connect to NBN in March 2018.

A City spokesman said NBN rolled out nodes in areas east of Tonkin Highway including Beechboro and parts of Morley and Bayswater earlier this year.

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