Wollerton's Phone Box Threatened

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Shropshire NewsroomShropshire Council is appealing to residents, town councils and parish councils to have their say on a proposal by BT to remove 214 public payphones around the county. Included amongst these is the one on Bean Bank in Wollerton.
In a post on Shropshire Newsroom, the Council states that it is able to:

  • Object to the removal of the telephony service and kiosk in any particular area.
  • Consent to removal of the telephony service, whilst keeping the physical structure of the kiosk.
  • Consent to the permanent removal of the telephony service and the kiosk.

The basis for any decision by the Council must be backed up by recording the views of local people that are likely to be affected by removing of a phone box. To ensure each community’s options are fully understood, help and advice is available through Shropshire Council’s community enablement officers that can be contacted via email or by calling 01743-253077.
Cecilia Motley, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for rural services and communities, stated, “I would also stress that payphones that have been saved as a result of previous consultations may well be under threat once more, so it is important to engage with us again.”
The formal consultation runs through until January 2017, though the Council urge individuals and groups to make their thoughts known ahead of an initial stocktake on 28 November 2016. There will then be a further chance for local communities to comment on the Council’s provisional view before the final decisions are made and passed on to BT in January 2017.
The article provides a link to this PDF file which lists all the threatened boxes. The only one included from the Hodnet area is the one in in Wollerton near to Post Code TF9 3NB. The main reason its existence is threatened is because in the the twelve months up to October this year there were just twelve phone calls made from it. It seems like a case of use it or loose it.
The full guidance on responding to the proposed removal of phone boxes is available on the Ofcom website.