Town councillors are set to ask BT to save one of the town’s last remaining phone boxes for use as a wi-fi hot spot and mobile phone charhing point instead.
Burnham-On-Sea.com reported here that BT has begun a public consultation on whether the phone kiosk in Princess Street, near the town’s library and Princess Theatre, can be removed due to low use.
It comes after many phone kiosks have been removed over the last decade due to the prevalence of mobile phones.
But at this week’s Town Council Planning Committee Meeting, Cllr Ross Baker said: “I am still in part support of keeping a pay phone kiosk there because not everyone has a mobile phone. Also, what happens if your battery has run out and you have an emergency – there are certain reasons and circumstances to support a pay phone.”
“In the cities I have seen BT trying out new systems in the boxes – offering wi-fi hot spots and charging points in the pay phone box. Why would we remove it – why not repurpose it?”
The Town Council agreed to ask BT to consider repurposing the kiosk for high-tech use and also to ask for detailed stats on usage of the kiosk.
Any comments on the removal of the Princess Street kiosk should be emailed before November 1st 2023 to PlanningNorth@Somerset.gov.uk and quote application reference 99/23/00211.
In 2021, we reported here that Burnham and Highbridge Town Councillors had requested that three ‘vital’ kiosks in Princess Street, Pier Street and Seaview Road be saved from removal.
