Have you ever noticed that there seem to be an awful lot of phone boxes in Edinburgh streets? (I’m not talking here about traditional red phone boxes, by the way: rather the unlovely, utilitarian payphone). In the age of the ubiquitous mobile phone, do we need so many of these square boxes in our already-cluttered pavements? I first became curious about this phenomenon while trying - successfully, eventually! - to get this redundant phone box removed from Tollcross as a result of a street audit for Living Streets Edinburgh.
Indeed, BT reports that a third of their pay phones have been removed, because most phone boxes lose money; calls from their payphones have fallen by more than 80% in the past ten years. But according to UK payphone.com there are 1,379 in Edinburgh. In South St Andrews Street, just off Edinburgh’s Princes Street, there are no fewer than seven payphone within the space 40 metres. Is it conceivable that there is ever a demand for all these phones at any one time?
Could this proliferation possibly be connected with BT’s partnership with street furniture and advertising giant JC Decaux? JC Decaux’s “StreetTalk” is a roadside advertising programme aimed particularly at young people which seems to use BT phone boxes as prime advertising sites. JCDecaux’s website boasts that “StreetTalk’s domination of the high street means that campaigns can get right in on the action”. Of course, phone boxes are not the only - or no doubt the worst - culprit cluttering our streets, but there is something objectionable, sneaky even, about a street advertising programme that masquerades as a public service.
Scottish councils have clear powers under the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 to remove obstructions from our streets. It would be nice to see councils using these powers more vigorously to reduce phone boxes (and all other useless things which clutter our towns and cities) to make our streets more attractive and easy places for people to use. The latest Ofcom guidance (5) on the subject I could find seems to be ten years old; it is mostly concerned with the process for removing phone boxes (to protect rural communities where a phone box might be a crucial lifeline). Perhaps Ofcom could provide some leadership here too?
Scottish councils have clear powers under the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 to remove obstructions from our streets. It would be nice to see councils using these powers more vigorously to reduce phone boxes (and all other useless things which clutter our towns and cities) to make our streets more attractive and easy places for people to use. The latest Ofcom guidance (5) on the subject I could find seems to be ten years old; it is mostly concerned with the process for removing phone boxes (to protect rural communities where a phone box might be a crucial lifeline). Perhaps Ofcom could provide some leadership here too?
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