Work has begun on a telecommunications tower in Ainslie, despite residents and environmental groups urging the company behind it to move the facility away from a grassland restoration site.

Infrastructure company Indara says the tower is needed because mobile coverage in Ainslie and surrounding areas is poor.

The facility, which will serve two major national carriers, is intended to reduce mobile black spots and improve access to Triple Zero, telehealth, remote work, and other digital services.

But residents say the problem is where Indara is building the tower, not the tower itself.

The approved site is in the Ainslie Volcanic Grasslands reserve, near Limestone Avenue and Quick Street, where volunteers have spent four years restoring native grasslands.

The Ainslie Residents Association, North Canberra Community Council, and Friends of Ainslie Volcanics want the tower moved about 100 metres east.

They say the location forms part of a connected ecological area and should not be treated as an isolated patch of degraded land.

Residents fear construction and proposed screening plants will disrupt restoration work; block sunlight that grassland species need; and weaken habitat links with the adjoining Mount Ainslie Nature Reserve.

The rehabilitation has received more than $100,000 in ACT Government funding.

Residents also argue the 25-metre tower will loom over nearby low-rise homes, and affect views towards Mount Ainslie, the Ainslie Hotel, and the Alt Crescent precinct.

“While Indara gets to walk away from this tower, our community will live with it forever,” ACT Residents Association secretary Tricia Fitzgerald said.

Indara said it considered five possible locations in 2021 and chose the current site because it offered the best balance of coverage, planning, engineering, and environmental factors.

The company said the alternative residents suggested was not raised during the formal submissions during the DA process, and was “only … recently suggested as Indara mobilises for construction”.

Indara said it had positioned the tower to avoid significant vegetation. Existing trees and new landscaping would partly screen the facility, while the pole and equipment compound had been made as small as possible.

Construction began on Monday 6 July. Community groups have asked Indara to stop work temporarily and meet residents at the site, but the company said it would not reconsider the location.

“The location has been formally assessed and approved through the ACT Government’s Development Application process, and construction has now commenced in accordance with that approval,” a spokesperson said. “We acknowledge that some residents are disappointed with the decision; however, Indara is required to comply with the determinations of the approving authority and deliver on our commitments to the residents of Ainslie. Therefore, we cannot relocate the facility.”

Ms Fitzgerald said tensions had risen since construction fencing and security guards appeared. She alleged guards had threatened to call police if protesters entered the site, and illegally removed signs opposing the tower.

Residents also say Indara’s early consultation was inadequate, claiming only 40 nearby homes were notified and three A4 signs were placed at the site.

Indara said it had met and exceeded all statutory consultation requirements, including conducting pre-application consultation in March 2023.

The Territory Planning Authority publicly notified the development application in January 2024 as part of its assessment process. It received 49 representations. All but one opposed the proposal.

The ACT Government said the independent Authority approved the tower subject to environmental and landscaping conditions.

The Conservator of Flora and Fauna found that exotic vegetation — rather than natural temperate grassland — dominated the construction footprint, and did not object to the proposal. Its office will monitor the work to ensure environmental conditions are followed.

Indara expects construction to be completed during July or August.