Residents raised concerns about plans for a new Jandakot housing estate near 330kV high-voltage power lines, with the Pollution Action Network and Conservation Council of WA arguing some homes would be too close to the transmission corridor.

Three rows of power lines near Thomson Lake ran along the other side of Hammond Road, where land intended for local parkland separated them from the proposed estate. Resident Adele Foote said she was particularly concerned about possible health effects on children who could spend much of their lives beneath the lines.

At the time, possible health risks associated with electromagnetic fields were still being debated. A US Environmental Protection Agency draft report had linked electromagnetic fields with several illnesses, although it acknowledged the biological processes involved were not understood and laboratory results remained inconclusive.

A SECWA spokesman said there were regulations preventing houses from being constructed within 30 metres of power lines, based on World Health Organisation recommendations. He said the Jandakot lines crossed only a section of parkland, although residents argued this still exposed people using the area.

Most of the proposed estate was within the City of Cockburn, which had allowed the developer to locate much of the open space beneath the power lines. The Conservation Council asked the council to review the subdivision design and move recreational areas away from the transmission corridor.

Council president Phil Jennings had previously suggested moving the power lines along the nearby Kwinana Freeway. He later wrote to Environment Minister Bob Pearce arguing the lines should be relocated to the freeway.