2GB transmission tower comes down

A landmark on Western Sydney’s Parramatta River skyline has disappeared.

The 2GB AM transmission tower has been decommissioned and removed from its site.

The tower site was established in the 1930s from reclaimed land in the Parramatta River.

When the AM transmission main and standby towers went up seven decades ago, they were in a swampy backwater of the Parramatta River. Moist ground is the best place to site an AM transmitter because it helps the earth mat conduct a stronger electrical signal.

The towers have been taken down because the land used by 2GB was leased from the state government (originally from the old Maritime Services Board).  The lease expired in 2009.  There was no requirement to renew the lease and the state government required 2GB to relinquish the land.  

It has taken 6 years for the process to be completed and a new site to be negotiated.

The 2GB tower is not in the Olympic Park area, but there are a number of other towers in that area close to Homebush Olympic Park and the former Athletes Village, which is now a residential area.

While those towers are not moving, because they are on privately owned land, they have haad their controversies.

Shortly after residents moved in following the Olympics, some worried that they would hear Alan Jones  “out of their toasters” because they were so close to the towers. Workers on some construction sites close to the towers held stop work actions over radiation hazard fears.

As more development took place in the area, pressure from the planning authority increased and a study was done which warned of “serious interference and possible health risks in buildings so close to the towers.” One development was reported as being just 200 metres from the towers. Those towers remain standing because they were there first and the land is privately owned by the broadcasters.

Footage of the 2GB tower being dismantled below.

2GB will co-site its transmission with 2KY, which has a similar tower in the area.

For an interactive map of Australia’s AM transmission sites like this one, click to download a KMZ file from ACMA, which will open in Google Earth. FM Tx KMZ file here.

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