It follows anger over a Telstra proposal to install a tower on top of a veterinary clinic at Quarry Road, Ryde. Local councils are powerless to stop the proposals because federal law considers phone towers to be low-impact structures. Residents claim the Optus tower will pose a health risk as it is too close to homes and Truscott Street Public School - a claim rejected by Optus which says the installation is safe and just "three antennas on an existing light pole". About 500 people have since signed a petition objecting to the tower and have put candidates on notice it will influence their decision come election day - a threat the major parties are not likely to ignore, considering the seat is tipped to be decided by a handful of votes. Labor MP Maxine McKew - who holds the seat by just 1.4 per cent after she defeated John Howard in 2007 - even contacted Communications Minister Stephen Conroy to enlist his help.

"I think it will influence how people vote - we have spent a lot of time doorknocking to get people to sign our petitions and I was asked so many times what Maxine is doing and what is [Liberal candidate John Alexander] doing," Ryde resident Karen Kennedy said. "Because the issue is so personal and so relevant to many, people have told us this is going to affect our vote and who are we going to select." Ms McKew - who some say was slow to realise the community anger about the issue - will take a break from the final week of her campaign to host a peace meeting between residents and Optus. Some 500 people have since signed a petition objecting to the tower and have put candidates on notice it will influence their decision come election day - a threat the major parties are not likely to ignore considering the seat is tipped to be decided by a handful of votes Mr Alexander joined a 300-person protest against the tower on Sunday.

Mr Alexander claims the issue of phone towers is part of a litany of planning issues facing the electorate that can be blamed on the federal government. He said there was also "real anger" over 13 multi-unit developments which did not require local council approval and were funded by federal government stimulus money. "All these decisions [bypass local councils] and all residents get is a letter from the telcos telling them what is going to happen," he said. "Maxine refused to engage with these people over the first tower in Quarry Road, only writing a letter saying it was allowed under federal law. "Is she [now] prompted by a real concern or an election on Saturday week? To me it is too little too late."

Ms McKew would not be drawn on whether she thought the phone towers would be a vote changer. "This is a big issue for many families in the Bennelong electorate, which is why the Coalition needs to explain how many more mobile towers would be built under their ad-hoc broadband policy," she said. Ms McKew said the Liberals' broadband plan relies more heavily on wireless technology than the government's, raising fears there may be the need for more residential phone towers. Mr Alexander said he did not object to phone towers generally, only where they are installed. "Well, I wouldn't know enough about the technology and I don't think Maxine would either, but it is not a question of whether you are going to have phone towers in your area, it is making sure they are properly located."

Ryde resident Dragan Misic said the Optus tower should not be installed so close to homes until research proves "without a doubt" the electromagnetic emissions pose no risk to residents. "The reason we feel they want to place the tower here is for cost reasons. There are numerous other sites in the Ryde area which are more suitable but they don't want to look at them," he said. Loading "People here can relate to this issue because it is in their backyard and it is a federal issue they want to know why this is happening [and] everyone is saying that it will determine our vote." Optus said it had installed four towers in the Ryde area over the past two years and would meet residents next week over the Epping Road installation.