The citizens had brought to light the issue related to the installation of a new Iliad telephone antenna. Then politics intervened
In recent weeks we had given voice to the outburst of residents against the installation, between via Gigli and via Padre Luigi Corsini in Rovato, of a new Iliad telephone antenna. After a meeting in the Municipality, the citizens resigned but in the meantime, the minority moved to bring the issue back into the limelight.
Minorities attack the new antenna
It will be 34 meters high, like a 10-storey building, and no one seems to have asked big questions – controversially commented Renato Bonassi, RovatoW group leader in the City Council – The construction of such a tall and impactful work for the Capo Rovato area it did not find any opposition or relief either from the municipal offices or from any member of the majority. Not a dissenting voice, everyone shut up.
RovatoW has tried to reconstruct the process of the project.
«To build an antenna, a telephone company must find land destined for public services – continued Bonassi, supported in the Council by Andrea Giliberto – In Rovato Iliad found the land in via Gigli and entered into a rental contract with the owner. Then the company presented the “Application for authorization for the installation of a teleradio communication system” and the landscape examination to the Municipality. Iliad’s request was evaluated both by the municipal offices and by the Landscape Commission which gave a favorable opinion and Iliad started the works ».
For RovatoW the absence of remarks from the Commission for the landscape is surprising: «How can one declare that that work is in harmony with the places? How do you declare that the tower blends with the territory given “the presence of industrial and craft warehouses”? There is no mention of the presence of the little church which is located a few meters from the construction site».
According to the councilors, the Municipality «could have intervened, it could have thought of a regulation earlier to prevent these situations, it could have talked to Iliad to find a less drastic solution. He could have done a lot, but the feeling is that instead, the Municipality is fine with it”.
On Wednesday, RovatoW made an urgent report to the Superintendency: in fact, during the construction site operations, the ancient wall of the historic carriage road was drilled through to connect an electricity meter via Gigli. «We report this event as an immediate negative effect of the work under construction and as we believe and fear, in a general sense, that the assessment of the building’s impact on the landscape has not taken due account of the visual, perceptive and historical values of the place. One wonders what is the reason why an intervention of such interference is admissible in a context of such fragility», concluded Bonassi and Giliberto, hoping for an intervention by the institution.
Rovato Vale and La Civica also attended
The Rovato Vale and La Civica groups, represented by the directors Stefano Fogliata, Luciana Buffoli, and Elena Zoppi also participated in the request for access to the documents on the installation of the new Iliad antenna.
«What we saw and heard during Monday’s meeting in the Municipality with RovatoW colleagues displaced us for the lightness with which a 34-meter tower is accepted in one of the most characteristic and ancient villages of our Municipality, a stone’s throw from the church of the Patronage of the Madonna and right under Monte Orfano – they highlighted – The Commission for the landscape has even dismissed the thing in two lines, giving a favorable opinion on the work. The only green space in the middle of a densely populated area, which also according to the PGT should have become a public park for years, will suffer a significant negative impact in terms of quality of life and the economic value of homes.
For the councilors, the attitude of the Municipality is not acceptable:
Their “we couldn’t help it” isn’t enough for us: the phone company could, but didn’t necessarily have to, install the antenna right there. We were told that there was no attempt at mediation or counter-proposal: but what is the use of an Administration if not to protect the general public interest? Yet politics should really serve that: to offer alternatives and solutions even when they are not seen. Politics is not just managing the ordinary administration by washing your hands of any hindrances. It is the ability to build the conditions of the possible. In that area, we could have a park and other functional services, but instead, we’ll end up with a 34-meter metal tower. Is it really worth resigning lightly?