Some of you may already know that BT are proposing to remove 18 public telephone boxes on the Wight.
The claim is that these boxes are underused and the upkeep is too high.
Just as a side point, BT’s profits this year before taxation and specific items are £2.5bn.
Anyway, in the Ventnor area they want to remove boxes from the following locations and the Ventnor Town Council were asked on Monday for their views.
Boxes Under Threat
- Opposite Rare Breeds in St Lawrence
- Bonchurch Pond
- Whitely Bank (outside Ventor but included due to PO38 postcode)
- Ventnor Botanic Gardens
We were pleased to hear the councilors vehemently defending the need to retain the boxes for public use. Our new best mate [sic], Jonny Fitzgerald Bond, raised the valid point that particularly in the Bonchurch area, mobile phone reception is poor and the telephone box a vital service – he went on to remind Councillors of the safety aspect, given it’s proximity to the pond.
The same is true of the box opposite the Rare Breeds in St Lawrence. The Post Office are regularly asked where the nearest phone box is and in fact I have personal experience of requiring use of that one.
A couple of years ago I got a flat tyre whilst driving through the Undercliff. I stopped and took out my mobile, but with no reception was unable to call for help. It was a winter’s evening, very dark and I had two kids in the back. There was no alternative but to carry on driving – which unfortunately resulted in my flat tyre becoming completely torn apart by the time I reached the first phone box in St Lawrence – the one opposite the Rare Breeds.
If I’d had to drive any further, goodness know what would’ve happened, but enough of the reminiscing.
Val Taylor raised her concern about the phone box in Whiteley Bank. She told the meeting that this was a regular place for people changing buses or getting picked up from. The phone box was vital for this remote area for this purpose alone.
The phone at the Botanics has been missing for over a year, after someone stole it – so this one was not considered as important as the others. The result of the discussion was that John Farrant would make it known that the Ventnor Town Council was against the removal of these boxes for the reasons given.
Let’s hope that BT take note.
