The impending installation of an ‘ugly’ internet housing box on the front lawn of a Perth property has left a family fearing their home could be devalued by $40,000.
A 1.2 metre NBN node is set to be installed outside the Edgewater address within the next few months—but not if home-owner Clare Johansen can help it.
The mother has been campaigning against the unsightly object being placed outside her house, saying it creates an unnecessary ‘eyesore’ and puts her family in harms way.
‘We have concerns regarding the constant disturbance we will experience due to maintenance of the node,’ Mrs Johansen told Daily Mail Australia.
Perth home-owner Clare Johansen (pictured) doesn’t want an NBN node installed at the front of her home out of fear it will have serious negative implications on her family’s health and safety
She says the large box would obstruct their view when reversing out of their driveway; which already faces a blind hill and fast flowing traffic.
Mrs Johansen is also worried her and husband Tim, will have ‘zero sight line’ while the box is being constructed.
Having only moved into the home nine months ago, she says the situation is ‘incredibly frustrating’.
Had the the box already been installed, she says they would never have bought the home in the first place.
Not only would its physical stature pose a risk, Mrs Johansen is concerned about it having potential long term implications on her three-year-old daughter’s health.
A 1.2 metre NBN node (similar to the above) is set to be installed outside the Edgewater address within the next few months
Mrs Johansen says the couple wouldn’t have bought the home nine months ago if there had been an ‘ugly’ NBN box out front
‘We have concerns over the health risks of being so close to such a device. We know that living close to pylons increases the risk of childhood leukaemia, are there similar risks associated with a node?
‘We feel that given the long term implications that will effect our family that we should at least be able to discuss the location with someone from NBN or the council but apparently we have no say in it at all.’
The ordinary colouring, which is normally green or grey, also has the 34-year-old concerned their home will become a target for graffiti.
‘The suburb has had a recent issue with this (graffiti) and we obviously don’t want this right out the front of our house.’
Mrs Johansen (pictured) is concerned about it having potential long term implications on her three-year-old daughter’s health.
Mrs Johansen says ‘it’s incredibly frustrating’ her attempts to negotiate with her local council and NBN have so far failed
Mrs Johansen says her attempts to negotiate with her local council, The City of Joondalup, and NBN have so far failed.
She says NBN has passed the decision making onto its construction partner, Fulton Hogan, but she was yet to hear from them regarding any further plans.
While the family understand and support that the network will be of great benefit to the area, they say they ‘deserve to be consulted over its final location’.
Mrs Johansen has even proposed an alternative site, a few blocks up the road, for the node to be installed that she believes would fit the ’30 criteria’ outlined by NBN.
Mrs Johansen has even proposed an alternative site, a few blocks up the road (illustrated above)