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Jun 2021

Community

Harrogate district village rallies to save phone box

Published: 25 Jun 2021, 06:15 BST

by Calvin Robinson

Grantley and Sawley Parish Council objected on the grounds the village needed reliable telecommunications in case the village defibrillator was activated.

The phone box in Grantley which BT has proposed to remove.

A village phone box has been saved after residents objected over concerns that it may be required for emergency use.

BT launched a consultation on a proposal to remove the red phone booth from Grantley, near Ripon, after it said there was sufficient mobile coverage in the area.

It planned to remove the phone box, along with two others in Bishop Monkton and Markington.

However, Grantley and Sawley Parish Council objected to the move over concerns that the village has a defibrillator which is used by residents and passing cyclists and walkers.

In a letter to BT, David Taylor, clerk of the parish council, said:

“The parish council supports a defibrillator in the village for the benefit of the local community and for walkers and cyclists who regularly pass through the village.

“It is absolutely essential that a reliable means of telecommunication exists in the event that the defibrillator unit requires deployment.

“Until there is a universal and reliable mobile telephone and broadband service in the area, the village are very much opposed to the de-commissioning and removal of the payphone.”

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As a result, Harrogate Borough Council objected to the removal of the phone box.

However, it has offered no objection to removing those on Boroughbridge Road in Bishop Monkton and High Street in Markington.

A BT spokesperson confirmed the booth would remain in place and added that the company was encouraging residents to adopt red phone boxes for community use.

The spokesperson said:

"With the vast majority of people now using mobile phones, it’s led to a huge drop in the number of calls made from pay phones. At the same time, mobile coverage has improved significantly in recent years due to investment in masts.

“There are many pay phones that see no calls made from them each month. So, we’re giving communities the chance to decide how best they can use their local phone box.

“We’ve consulted with Harrogate Borough Council on the proposed removal of three pay phones in the area. The council raised an objection to the removal of a payphone in Grantley, so the service will stay in place. We received no objection to the removal of two pay phones in Markington and Bishop Monkton.

“For iconic red kiosks, we’re encouraging communities or charities to adopt them for only £1, so they can transform them into things like lifesaving heart defibrillator units, or libraries. Communities can also adopt glass ones for defibrillators. More than 6,400 kiosks have been adopted already through our website, bt.com/adopt.”

Last year, BT Group announced plans to remove 32 inactive booths across the Harrogate district, 22 of which were built in the traditional red style.

Oatlands Community Group saved a disused red phone box on St Hilda's Road from the scrapheap by turning it into a community library.

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Harrogate district village rallies to save phone box

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