PORT chiefs may be asked to pay for a new TV transmitter for Felixstowe - because new high-rise quayside cranes could mean thousands of residents losing their television reception.
PORT chiefs may be asked to pay for a new TV transmitter for Felixstowe - because new high-rise quayside cranes could mean thousands of residents losing their television reception.
When the current port expansion is complete, it will change the resort's skyline forever because the new cranes at Landguard will be far taller than those currently at the southern end of the terminal.
Previous expansion of the port has caused TV misery in the low-lying West End and Cavendish Park area - with signal disruption by the metal cranes leaving pictures snowy and with ghosting.
A relay transmitter had to be put in Ranelagh Road car park in the 1980s and then a relay station at Anzani House in the 1990s to cure the problems.
Experts Taylor Brothers have carried out an analysis of what the latest expansion could mean.
They have concluded that there will be an impact on TV reception - and those living in line with the port and the Sudbury transmitter will lose their signals altogether and have no TV.
The Ranelagh Road mast does not provide all the channels - only terrestrial BBC1, BBC2, ITV and Channel 4 - and so other solutions will need to be found.
Taylor Brothers say an alternative transmitter could be provided somewhere in the town, which would mean people having to buy new aerials and re-tune their TVs, or resort to using satellite TV, though people will have to pay for this.
Felixstowe Town Council said TV reception was a very important issue and the port needs to deal with it by way of a “major remedy” such as a new remote transmitter.
It has asked Suffolk Coastal council, which is dealing with the matter, to take independent technical advice on the consultants' report.
Should the port ensure TV reception is not harmed - and should it pay for every household to have a new aerial if needed? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail EveningStarLetters@eveningstar.co.uk
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