Item 6 - Consultation Payphone removals
West Dunbartonshire Council · 4 June 2025
Back to Planning Committee — 4 June 2025 and its agenda
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WEST DUNBARTONSHIRE COUNCIL Report by Planning, Building Standards and Environmental Health Manager Planning Committee: 4 June 2025 ___________________________________________________________________ Subject: Consultation on Proposed Payphone Removals 1. Purpose 1.1 To agree the Council’s response to a consultation from BT Openreach on the proposed removal of various public telephone boxes in West Dunbartonshire. 2. Recommendation 2.1 That the Council respond to the consultation offering no objection to the removal of all 13 payphones, as listed in paragraph 3.3 of the report. 3. Background 3.1 BT have advised that the use of payphones has been in continuous and significant decline since the turn of the millennium due to the rise in mobile phone ownership, and as a result many payphones have become uneconomic and have low usage. The number of BT payphones in Scotland has already been reduced significantly from 6,962 in 2003 to around 4,800 in 2016 and down to the current estimated number of 2,200 in 2025. The migration of the UK’s telephone network to Internet Protocol (IP) technology will have a significant effect on the future provision of public call boxes. The old telephone network will be retired by December 2025, so any remaining public call boxes will need to be upgraded with new equipment to ensure they still work. For the above set of reasons, as outlined in the guidance provided by BT, to reflect the current usage levels and allow for economically viable transition to the IP technology, the network operator now seeks to remove 13 public telephones in West Dunbartonshire. The approach to the proposed removal of payphones mirrors that currently taking place across Scotland. 3.2 In 2016 there were 61 BT payphones within the West Dunbartonshire area, of which 14 were proposed for removal through the consultation which took place the same year. The Council provided a consultation response which had advised that no objection was made to the removal of 11 of these. The above figures do not include other public telephones such as those within supermarkets, garages etc. 3.3 13 existing payphones within West Dunbartonshire have been proposed for removal in the current consultation. The locations of payphones are shown on the maps in the appendicies, with the following proposed for removal: ITEM 6
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Location Ward Calls in the last 12 months Brucehill Road, Dumbarton 3 - Dumbarton 44 Opposite no. 37, Glasgow Road, Hardgate, Clydebank 4 - Kilpatrick 3 At Trafalgar Square, Dumbarton Road, Clydebank 6 - Clydebank Waterfront 18 Adjacent to no. 161 Barns Street, Clydebank 6 - Clydebank Waterfront 36 Poplar Drive, Clydebank 5 - Clydebank Central 15 Napierston Road, Alexandria 2 - Leven 35 Smith Crescent, Alexandria 1 - Lomond 24 Colquhoun Drive, Alexandria 1 - Lomond 0 Bonhill Road, Dumbarton 3 - Dumbarton 3 Junction of Dumbuck Road and Garshake Road, Dumbarton 2 - Leven 7 Whiteford Avenue, Dumbarton 2 - Leven 0 Junction of Dumbarton Rd and Gavinburn Street, Old Kilpatrick 6 - Clydebank Waterfront 0 Outside Duntocher Pharmacy, Dumbarton Road, Duntocher, Clydebank 4 - Kilpatrick 0 BT provided usage information for the above public telephones with the consultation. As set out in the table above, the number of telephone calls made over the last 12 months at each of the above payphones was below the 52 call threshold within the published guidance, with four of these having not been used at all. Usage figures should be used with caution, because low usage may be in part due to the payphone having been inoperative due to vandalism, whereas some of the calls made may have been nuisance or hoax calls. Of these calls and locations, only five of the payphones were used to contact various helplines, with the remainder of the phones not being used at all for this purpose. 3.4 In terms of alternatives to the above public telephones, all locations enjoy good coverage by the four major UK mobile network operators (EE, Three, O2 and Vodafone). It should be noted that these networks are also used to provide service by smaller mobile operators (e.g. Tesco Mobile, GiffGaff, Lebara etc.). 3.5 There are matters other than usage frequency that are considered by BT to consider continued provision of public telephone service in a given location. Specifically, based on the evidence provided by BT, none of the above locations suffer from high frequency of accidents which could result in the need for use of public telephone to contact emergency services. Furthermore, BT has no evidence of any of the sites being high frequency suicide locations, with no resulting need for provision of public telephones for the individuals affected to contact suicide prevention helplines or emergency services. Finally, BT has no evidence of other reasonable need for the public telephone provision in the
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above locations. Therefore, there is no evidence, as presented by the operator, that there would be any reason to continue service at the specified sites. 3.6 The consultation gives the Council and the local community the opportunity to comment or object to the removal of individual payphones if a case for retention can be demonstrated. The reasons for any objection must be provided. Additionally, it gives opportunities for community groups to apply to ‘adopt’ a telephone box for community purposes should they so wish. A date of 6th June 2025 has been agreed with BT Openreach for the Council to provide a response to the consultation. 4. Main Issues Consultation & Representations 4.1 The consultation arrangements involved the posting of notices in the payphones concerned, undertaken by BT Openreach. The Council is required to separately consult locally on the proposed removal of the payphones contained in the list. This has involved contacting all active community councils together with elected members with details of proposed removals in their particular areas. Those wishing to make representations were advised to make these to the Planning Service. Individuals and community groups could also make direct representations to BT Openreach. 4.2 Four representations have been received, three of which came from elected members and one from a community council. No representations from members of the public were received. A query was received from Alexandria Community Council as to whether any residents have responded to the consultation request; the community council was advised that no such responses were received by the Planning Authority. The Community Council was also provided with additional time to submit a response, but at the time of writing no further response was received. 4.3 In terms of specific feedback from the elected members, an Elected Member from Ward 2 (Leven) stated their support for the view taken by the local community council. No objections were received from any community council in Ward 2 and no other feedback from the public has been received. An Elected Member from Ward 3 (Dumbarton) considers that all of the payphones listed, as well as others across West Dunbartonshire, should be removed as they are not used due to good mobile reception, while the boxes and their handsets are often vandalised, resulting in poor visual amenity and no service anyway. A Ward 4 (Kilpatrick) Elected Member queried whether the adopted boxes could be moved to another site and if ‘adoptions’ of boxes took place previously in West Dunbartonshire. Adoptions are, however, a matter for BT Openreach. Alexandria 4.4 Two payphones in this area are proposed to be removed, located at: • Colquhoun Drive, Alexandria; • The corner of Smith Crescent and Carrochan Road;
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The payphone at Smith Crescent had 24 calls made in the past year, with none made from the Colquhoun Drive telephone. This clearly demonstrates a very low level of demand. Alternative provision remains within the wider area with payphones located in Alexandria Town Centre and Balloch Railway Station. The removal of both of the public payphones in the Alexandria area is therefore considered to be acceptable. Bonhill 4.5 The payphone at Napierston Road, Bonhill is proposed to be removed. This telephone was used 35 times last year and this level of service demand is considered to be low and does not justify continued provision of a payphone in this location. Alternative provision remains within the wider area with a payphone located in Alexandria Town Centre. The removal of the public telephone in Napierston Road is therefore acceptable. Dumbarton 4.6 Four payphones are proposed to be removed in Dumbarton, located at: • Brucehill Road, Dumbarton; • Bonhill Road, Dumbarton; • junction of Dumbuck Road and Garshake Road, Dumbarton ; • Whiteford Avenue, Dumbarton . The usage of these payphones is very low, with 44 calls made from the payphone at Brucehill Road in the past year, seven at Garshake Road / Dumbuck Road, three at Bonhill Road and none at Whiteford Avenue. The above usage levels are low and are not considered to justify retention of these payphones. Alternative provision remains within the wider area with payphones located within Dubarton Town Centre, Glasgow Road and West Bridgend. Therefore, the proposed removal of the payphones listed above in the Dumbarton area is acceptable. Old Kilpatrick 4.7 The payphone on the corner of Gavinburn Street and Dumbarton Road is proposed for removal. No calls at all were made from this unit in the past year. Given the lack of any demand and alternative provision on Dumbarton Road near the junction with Erskine Ferry Road, the removal is considered acceptable. Clydebank 4.8 Five payphones are proposed for removal within the wider Clydebank area, located at: • Opposite no. 37, Glasgow Road, Hardgate, Clydebank; • Dumbarton Road outside of Duntocher Pharmacy, Duntocher. • Poplar Drive (at Rowan Drive), Clydebank. • At Trafalgar Square, Dumbarton Road, Clydebank; • Adjacent to no. 161 Barns Street, Clydebank; While the usage numbers vary across Clydebank, overall, they are very low, with the highest number of calls in the last year being 36 at Barns Street and
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the lowest being the Duntocher unit, having no use at all in the past year. With alternative provision at a variety of locations including within Clydebank Town Centre, Dumbarton Road, Beeches Road and Faifley Road, the proposed removal of the above payphones in the Clydebank area is considered to be acceptable. Conclusions 4.9 The use of payphones has been in continuous and significant decline and the payphones to be removed have extremely low usage, with four seeing no calls at all within the last 12 months. Given the low usage, the lack of any objections received in connection with their removal and continuing payphone provision within the wider area, it is concluded that the removal of the payphones proposed is justified, with no concerns arising. 5. People Implications 5.1 There are no personnel issues associated with this report. 6. Financial Implications 6.1 There are no financial issues associated with this report. 7. Risk Analysis 7.1 It was not considered necessary to carry out a risk assessment on the matters covered by this report. 8. Equalities Impact Assessment (EqIA) 8.1 Not required. The Council does not have direct control over the removal of payphones. 9. Consultation 9.1 Consultation has been undertaken by both BT Openreach and the Council with elected members and community councils. 10. Strategic Assessment 10.1 There are no strategic issues. Michael Mulgrew Planning, Building Standards and Environmental Health Manager Date: 4th June 2025
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Person to Contact: Michael Mulgrew, Planning & Building Standards Manager Email: Michael.Mulgrew@west-dunbarton.gov.uk James McColl, Development Management Team Leader Email: James.McColl@west-dunbarton.gov.uk Appendices 1. Payphone removal overview map 2. Ward 1 removals 3. Ward 2 removals 1 of 2 4. Ward 2 removals 2 of 2 5. Ward 3 removals 6. Ward 4 removals 7. Ward 5 removals 8. Ward 6 removals 1 of 2 9. Ward 6 removals 2 of 2 Background Papers: 1. Consultation notification from BT Openreach Wards affected: All