Objections raised to half of under threat Highland phone boxes; BT wants to axe 110, but concerns have been raised over 55 of them; Highland Council will decide its response next week
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PLANS to axe more than 100 Highland phone boxes are being resisted by dozens of Highland communities.
BT plans to axe 110 payphones across the Highland Council area.
But consultation feedback has resulted in formal objections being lodged over the removal of 55 of the boxes, with a further six set to be "adopted" by the local community.
And Highland councillors will formally decide how to respond to BT's plans when the environment, development and infrastructure committee meets next week.
Under Ofcom guidelines, councils are responsible for co-ordinating consultation responses over any proposed removal of public payphones.
Objections to removal can be made, but this must be based on evidence of need.
Following a two-phase community consultation, Highland Council said it had received 163 representations regarding BT’s proposals to remove the 110 public call boxes.
The council's committee will decide upon its response on Thursday.
The finalised response must be submitted to BT and the UK government's Department for Culture, Media and Sport by November 13, and will be published on the council’s website.
"If BT disagree with any of the objections made by the council, they will ask to formally review those objections with the local authority and Ofcom will consider the decision on proposed closure," said a council spokeswoman.
A BT spokesperson said: “Most people now have a mobile phone and calls made from our public telephones have fallen by around 90 per cent in the past decade.
"We consider a number of factors before consulting on the removal of payphones, including whether others are available nearby and usage.
“As part of the consultation we are also offering communities the chance to adopt traditional red ‘heritage’ phone boxes for just £1 through our Adopt a Kiosk scheme and transform them into something inspirational for their local area. For more details visit bt.com/adopt.
“The need to provide payphones for use in emergency situations is also diminishing all the time, with at least 98 per cent of the UK having either 3G or 4G coverage.
"This is important because as long as there is network coverage, it’s now possible to call the emergency services, even when there is no credit or no coverage from your own mobile provider.”
