Highland Council objecting to proposed removal of 55 payphones
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Highland Council has confirmed it will object to the proposed removal by BT of more than 50 payphones across the north, including one at Dunnet.
The local authority was obliged under Ofcom regulations to coordinate the public consultation into the removal of 110 of the region’s 508 payphones.
There were two phases of public consultation, with the second of these concluding on October 24. Having completed that, the environment, development and infrastructure committee unanimously confirmed the response to be sent to BT.
In total, formal objections were agreed for 55 public phones, while a further six were recommended to be “adopted” by communities.
In Caithness the removal of one payphone has been objected to following the consultation. The phone at Dunnet post office received an objection based on the poor mobile phone signal in the area and concern that its removal would "exacerbate risks to public safety in the event of an emergency".
Others that were put forward for removal but brought no objection were the payphones on Main Street in Castletown, Provost Sinclair Road in Thurso, Crescent Street in Halkirk and Main Street in Lybster. These now seem likely to be removed from service.
Around the region most of the objections made were for areas that serviced remote or underprivileged communities and on the grounds of public safety.
More than half a dozen phones in the Strathspey and Badenoch were earmarked to be saved, including one in Carrbridge which the local community council said served locals and large numbers of tourists without access to mobile phones.
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.
The finalised response had to be submitted to BT and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport by November 13, and will be published on the council’s website.
If BT disagrees with any of the objections made by the council, the telecommunications giant will ask to formally review those objections with the local authority and the regulator 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.
“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,” he said.
“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.”
