History
In April 1970, the then Postmaster General (PMG) commissioned the Commonwealth Department of Housing and Construction to carry out a feasibility study in relation to a tower on Black Mountain accommodating both communication services and facilities for visitors. The tower was to replace the microwave relay station on Red Hill and the television broadcast masts already on Black Mountain.
Design of the tower was the responsibility of the Department of Housing and Construction, however a conflict arose with the National Capital Development Commission (NCDC) which, at the time, had complete control over planning within the Australian Capital Territory.
During the approval process of the tower, protests arose on aesthetic and ecological grounds. Some people felt that the tower would dominate other aesthetic Canberra structures due to its location above Black Mountain and within a nature reserve. A case was brought before the High Court of Australia arguing that the Federal Government did not have the constitutional power to construct the tower (Johnson v Kent (1975) 132 CLR 164). The decision was made in favour of the government and construction was able to commence.
Telecom Tower was opened on 15 May 1980 by the then Prime Minister, Malcolm Fraser.
Prior to the construction of the tower, CTC-TV (now called Southern Cross Ten Canberra) had its studios located at the top of Black Mountain. Also located on the top were two guy-wired masts, one for CTC7 and the other one for the local ABC TV station. These were demolished in 1980 after the tower had opened
Read more about this topic: Black Mountain Tower
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