Geraldton council oppose Telstra grant of $50,000 to improve network coverage at popular surf beach Flat Rocks

The Greater Geraldton council will not allocate $50,000 towards a Telstra project to improve mobile coverage at a popular surf beach in South Greenough, claiming it is not local government’s responsibility to fund. Telstra have lodged a proposal to improve coverage at surf beaches along WA, with Flat Rocks, located 34km south of Geraldton, one of 29 locations chosen as part of their submission. The proposal exceeded the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development’s grant pool of $2 million and Telstra has resulted to seeking funding support from relevant councils. City of Greater Geraldton councillors were set to vote on a motion approving the allocation of $50,000 to help fund the application at the Tuesday council meeting, however deputy mayor Natasha Colliver sought to amend the recommendation. Instead, she changed the recommendation so council could vote not to approve council funding. Cr Colliver said Telstra was a “multi-billion-dollar company” who should be providing a reliable service, and it was not the city’s responsibility to fund a service that customers were already paying for. “We would all like to see increased mobile coverage on our beaches, particularly our isolated beaches . . . more of this stuff falls back on local government and I don’t think we should be doing it, it’s not our responsibility,” she said. Cr Steve Cooper agreed, saying Telstra was a multinational company that should be investing in infrastructure in regional WA. “We have poor coverage across the regions where money could be spent as well, not just on surf beaches,” he said. When Cr Michael Librizzi questioned whether the improved coverage would still go ahead without council funding, CEO Ross McKim said he understood Telstra would not proceed with some of the proposed locations. “Which ones would be cut out, I’m not sure. They (Telstra) could not give me a straight answer,” he said. The amendment was passed 9-0. Flat Rocks is one of the Mid West’s premier surf spots, with high-performance waves attracting wave riders from across WA. It hosts a number of competitions throughout the year, including the iconic Sunshine Surf Masters.