Fight to save Ross-shire phone boxes; Highland Council will object to BT payphone axe proposals
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Highland Council has confirmed it will object to the proposed removal of 55 payphones across the region by BT.
The local authority was obliged under Ofcom regulations to co-ordinate the public consultation into the removal of 110 of the region’s 508 payphones.
There were two phases of public consultation with the second phase only coming to an end on October 24.
Having completed that, the environment, development and infrastructure committee unanimously confirmed the response which will now be sent to BT.
In total, formal objections were agreed for 55 public phones while a further six were recommended to be “adopted” by local communities.
The majority of the objections made were for areas that serviced remote or under-priviledged communities and on the grounds of public safety.
Others that were objected to in Ross-shire were for a number of reasons including servicing walkers in trouble such as the one at Knockfarrel near Dingwall where there is sporadic mobile coverage.
Another on Mill Street in Dingwall highlighted its regular use and location in an area “with low mobile phone ownership which is also situated on a main travel route.”
The Alness areas saw five objections for payphones at Westford, Kirkside, Novar Road, Milnafua and Ardross for similar reasons.
While there were two in Achnasheen which were seen as vital in an area with poor mobile coverage.
Local community councils in total objected to a further six phone boxes in the Achnasheen and Garve areas while there were some were also unhappy with the removal of telephone boxes in Strathconon and Strathpeffer.
The finalised response must be submitted to BT and the 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, the telecommunications giant will ask to formally review those objections with the council and Ofcom will consider the decision on which closures take place.
A BT spokesperson said they consider a number of factors before consulting on the removal of payphones including whether others are available nearby and usage.
He 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.
“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.
“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."
