Is the the end of the line for the public phone box in Eastleach?
Chief Planning Officer Cotswold District Council Trinity Road
Cirencester Gloucestershire
GL7 1PX
The last time the phone was under threat was in October 2016
TIME SENSITIVE – 90 Day Consultation period end date: 7th January 2017
Dear Chief Planning Officer,
Further to our previous letter, we are writing to you as part of a formal consultation process regarding our current programme of intended public payphone removals. This letter formally starts our consultation with you and the local community.
There are currently 60 public payphones in your area which have been identified and proposed for removal by BT under the 90-day consultation process and details of these payphones are shown below.
To ensure that the local community are fully informed, we have placed consultation notices on the relevant payphones, and a sample notice is enclosed. We have also included the date we posted these notices on the payphones. The consultation period will close on 7th January 2017. Unless you contact us to agree otherwise, responses received after this date will not be accepted.
This consultation process gives your local communities the opportunity to adopt a traditional red ‘heritage’ phone box and make them an asset that local people can enjoy. It’s really simple to do and it costs just £1 – http://business.bt.com/phone-services/payphone-services/adopt-a-kiosk/
Overall use of payphones has declined by over 90 per cent in the last decade and the need to provide payphones for use in emergency situations is 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.
You may also want to consider the recent Ofcom affordability report which found that most people do not view payphones as essential for most consumers in most circumstances –
http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/affordability/affordability_report.pdf
On the 14th March 2006 the Office of Communications (Ofcom) published a statement following their 2005 review of universal service in the Telecommunications market, which includes a requirement for payphone provision to meet reasonable needs. Part of that statement amended our obligations with regard to the removal of payphone service – http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/uso/uso_statement/
As stated in Ofcom’s 2005 review, it is the responsibility of the local authority to initiate its own consultation process to canvas the views of the local community. They would normally expect these consultations to involve other public organisations such as the Parish or Community councils and work within the terms of the Communications Act 2003. This means that you must be able to objectively justify your decisions.
Full guidance on the removal process can be viewed at:
http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/consultations/uso/statement/removals.pdf
and a summary is available at:
http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/consultations/uso/statement/removing_callboxes.pdf
The guidance also details the appeals process we must follow in case of unreasonable objections.
What you need to do next
Please complete and return the attached annex with your decision on each payphone.
If the decision is that the local community wish to ‘adopt’, please provide their contact details and we’ll do the rest.
If you wish to ‘object’, you’ll need to complete the last column with your reasons, having reviewed all of the factors set out in Annex 1 of Ofcom’s guidance (see link above), and the information sent to you in our previous letter.
If the information is incomplete for any payphone in the list, then we’ll assume you have no objection to its removal and also that you do not wish to adopt it.
The best way to respond to us is by email at btp.authorisation.team@bt.com. Please retain proof that the email was sent or apply a read receipt. If you would prefer to respond by post please use the following address and allow at least two days for postal delivery:
BT Payphones
pp 4th Floor Monument TE 11 – 13 Great Tower Street
London EC3R 5AQ
You will need to obtain proof of postage from your local post office and be aware that we are unable to receive mail that requires a signature.
If you’ve got any questions then please get in touch with us by emailing btp.authorisation.team@bt.com.
Yours sincerely
Rick Thompson
Payphone Planning Officer
Dear Eastleach,
Quite obviously, the best thing would be to have the telephone removed
but keep the box as they have done in Quenington, where an old box has
become a valuable local facility for used books to be shared.
See https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.co.uk%2Fnews%2Fuk-england-gloucestershire-14761497&data=02%7C01%7C%7C025e58b2307d452bdbe008d75c3b2aa3%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637079281492357538&sdata=ItzuucnvhxgYryyHQa0Y2fT68VezkyR3rjtQGTRYp%2Fw%3D&reserved=0
Best Regards,
Chris Chadwick
