Herefordshire Council recommends retaining 96 percent of threatened phone boxes

Herefordshire Council is recommending BT retains 96 per cent of the 111 telephone boxes which it proposes to remove from service.

The recommendation comes after a public consultation which ended on Friday, September 26.

This document represents the final notification of the responses from the public consultation that Herefordshire Council has conducted on behalf of BT.

General Comments

Herefordshire is a predominately rural county of 840 square miles. It has a higher proportion of its population (25.3 per cent) living in very sparsely populated areas (with 0.5 or fewer residents per hectare) than any other county in England.

The Herefordshire population has a significantly older age profile than England and Wales, with 20 per cent over 65 years of age (compared with 16% nationally).

Age Concern report that rural isolation, especially for older people is a real issue. The removal of 35 per cent of the county's kiosks would further increase the sense of isolation felt by rural groups.

Out of the 111 kiosks presented for removal, one was found to be in Worcestershire and of the remaining 110, respondents agreed to the removal of four with a further one with conflicting opinion. However, as this kiosk is near a social housing estate, the overriding recommendation is that it should be retained. This means that it is Herefordshire Council's recommendation that 106 kiosks (96 per cent) are retained.

Several important issues have been raised by this consultation.

Firstly it has drawn attention to the general poor mobile coverage/reception experienced in this most rural of shire counties, leading for calls to retain the kiosks.

Secondly, there has been criticism of BT switching coin operated kiosks to card only. What is clear is that potential users do not understand how to work these card only kiosks and are put off from using them even in an emergency.

Thirdly, there have been many complaints about the poor maintenance of many kiosks. In some cases, people even report finding it hard to get into kiosks due to overgrown vegetation covering the entrance.

For further information contact Anthony Bush Parish Liaison and Rural Services Officer, Herefordshire Council, Plough Lane, PO Box 4, Hereford HR4 0XH, e-mail abush@herefordshire.gov.uk