Several angry people yelled: “liars” and “we know which councillors to sue when we have cancer”, as they left the chamber in the middle of council’s final meeting for 2017. More than 50 people were in the public gallery at the city’s civic headquarters expecting to see the application for the Telstra tower at Scenic Drive deferred until the new year.

But after two Telstra representatives and one Caves Beach resident spoke for and against the tower, respectively, Cr Adam Shultz disregarded the recommendation that councillors defer their final decision in favour of approving the plan immediately.

The recommendation to defer the plan came after a meeting at the site between councillors, council staff, residents and Telstra’s project manager Paul Davidson on Thursday. Council staff previously recommended the tower should be approved.

Many nearby residents fear a negative impact on visual amenity, a possible hit to land values, an effect on wildlife and vegetation and potential health impacts of radio frequency electromagnetic energy (RF EME).

But those who support the proposal argue that the facility would benefit many Caves Beach residents, while only negatively impacting a few, by dramatically improving internet and mobile phone coverage in the area.

Mr Davidson told Monday’s council meeting that the tower would emit RF EME about 200 times less that the safe maximum level. 

While there had been a push from nearby residents and some councillors for Telstra to find another site, he said the telco had ruled out all other locations it had investigated.

Cr Colin Grigg, Cr Barney Langford and Cr John Gilbert voted against the approval and echoed residents’ concerns, each speaking about the need to be cautious about possible unknown health effects from RF EME that could be discovered in future.

Several residents from the streets surrounding the Hunter Water-owned site told the Newcastle Herald after the meeting that they did not receive any formal notification about the tower plan.

They were also fuming that two speakers were allowed to address the meeting in favour of the tower, but only one resident was permitted to speak against it after Cr Grigg’s last-ditch effort to allow developer Warren Tresidder time to speak to the meeting was voted down.

Greg Robertson, whose home backs onto the future tower site, said he believed “a lot of councillors were voting for something they didn’t truly understand”.