Nithsdale Councillors have final say in Phone Box closures
Written by author on December 30, 2016
NITHSDALE area councillors will have a final say on the proposals by British Telecommunications plc (BT) on the future of phone boxes in the district.
BT is consulting on proposals to remove hundreds of public call boxes across the country because of the low number of calls over the last year, taking into account the views and proposals of local communities.
In Nithsdale it is proposed to remove 28 call boxes because of low usage and a report to the area committee which will be considered in January says that eight of them have not been used in the past 12 months.
The report says the removal of public call boxes is regulated by an Ofcom Direction of 14 March 2006 which sets out detailed procedures designed ‘to promote consistency of decisions between Relevant Public Bodies’.
Relevant Public Bodies are local authorities across the UK and they have responsibility for publishing their draft position following the feedback from communities on the BT proposals; and then agreeing the final position.
Overall use of public payphones has declined by 90% in the last decade and the need to provide payphones for public use is diminishing.
Providers are therefore reviewing provision and the consultation does not propose the removal of any payphones where there is a social need for retention (where any of the following criteria apply: suicide hotspots; accident blackspots; areas without any mobile coverage; or within 400m of the coast).
In addition to this, BT will not remove payphones where there is reasonable need (where all three of the following criteria apply – the only payphone within 800m; has had a least 12 calls of any type within a 12 month period; and the local population is not less than 500 households within 1km of the payphone).
BT identified 112 Phone Boxes in the region that had no or a low number of calls and placed a sign on each location, inviting communities to write to the chief planning officer with their views within a 90 day period.
Planning Services also published the list as part of the weekly planning consultations list which goes to all community councils, elected members and a number of other organisations and individuals.
Representations and proposals have been received from Dunscore and Tynron Community Councils
