Cabinet Member for Communities Decision Meeting - Friday 23 May 2025, 2:00pm - Slides Tab - Cotswold District Council Webcasting

Cabinet Member for Communities Decision Meeting
Friday, 23rd May 2025 at 2:00pm 

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  1. Councillor Claire Bloomer
  2. Slide 1
  3. Nickie Mackenzie-Daste, Officer
  4. Councillor Claire Bloomer
  5. Officer
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  1. Councillor Claire Bloomer
  2. Officer
  3. Councillor Claire Bloomer
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  5. Councillor Claire Bloomer
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  1. Councillor Claire Bloomer
  2. Nickie Mackenzie-Daste, Officer
  3. Councillor Claire Bloomer
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  1. Officer
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  3. Councillor Claire Bloomer
  4. Nickie Mackenzie-Daste, Officer
  5. Slide 4
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1 Cabinet Member Introduction

Councillor Claire Bloomer - 0:00:03
Okay, so welcome to today's cabinet member decision -making.
My name is Councillor Claire Bloomer and I am the cabinet member for Communities.
The officers present are Joseph Walker, Head of Economic Development and Communities, and
Nicky McKenzie -Dace, Democratic Service Officer.
This meeting is being streamed live to the Council's website and all of the meeting's
papers are also available to view on the Council's website. Please ensure that
microphones are switched on when speaking. Please also ensure that all
mobile phones and electric devices are switched off or put on to silent mode.
Today's meeting is to agree a response to the British telecommunications
consultation on the removal of payphones from 16
locations across Cotswold district in the light of the consultation response
submitted to the council. So if we start the agenda with item number one which is
Nickie Mackenzie-Daste, Officer - 0:01:08
Councillor Claire Bloomer - 0:01:12
apologies. We have no apologies today. Item two declarations of interest if any.
Fabulous moving on to item number three where I will hand over to Joseph and to
give an overview of the report and any recommendations.
Thank you, Councillor Bloomer.
So yeah, as you've introduced,
Officer - 0:01:30
this is an opportunity to make a decision
on a consultation being run by British telecommunications,

3 Officer overview of the report

which I will continue to refer to as BT for ease
and because that's how we more commonly know the company,
the removal of telephony from 16 locations
across Cotswold district.
So by way of background, over the past 15 years or so, BT have decommissioned a number of telephone boxes right across the country, including in Cotswold District.
Largely because of the increase in mobile phone usage and therefore a massive decrease in the number of calls made from public call boxes.
So this process we're running has been run four or five times in that last 15
years where a number of kiosks have been put forward by BT for decommissioning
or removal. So in this instance as you've mentioned it's 16 locations right
across the district. These are itemized Annex B and from sort of north to south
and they include 12 boxes which have got listed status so those listed structures
that can't be removed without listed consent from our planning function and four other
boxes which are not listed. So the scenario here then is for the unlisted boxes BT can
propose to remove both the telephone and the box and leave that space empty after this
process has been run. Where the kiosk is listed BT proposed to remove the telephony and if
no one else takes on control of the box,
the box will be left in situ
and will be locked and left unused.
So in response to BT launching this consultation,
we communicated with the affected parish councils
to update them on this so they were aware
and could make a response to Constable District Council
to inform our decision on this process.
We've also received some comments
from members of the public as well.
The parish council responses and the responses
from members of the public have been appended at Annex C
as this isn't technically a planning consultation.
These are all anonymous.
We've removed personal data from that,
but they're all legitimate responses.
So if we, I don't know whether you'd like to go through
in order if you're happy to take them on mass.
I'm easy on that.
And you know if you'd like to go through them in order if I might suggest perhaps that
For a number where the parish has agreed so that there's no contention
there's also a number where the parish have proposed to adopt the box where our
approach today has always been to support that kind of an
acquisition of a local asset by the local community so perhaps the ones that stand out aware
two objections to BT's proposal have been made,
and three where we haven't actually heard
from the parish council, and that way we give those ones
that are a little bit more contentious
or unknown a little bit more kind of space and opportunity.
So then if I go through them then,
so the first one where there's been an objection
is the coal box in Whittington,
where the parish council has been in touch
and has objected.
What they have done to kind of provide some evidence
to support that is they've provided information
around mobile phone coverage in the location.
BTU's kind of modeled data on mobile phone coverage,
which is largely done by postcode area,
is not quite as precise as to be in a particular location
and know exactly what will happen.
And so the parish council have both noted
that the postcode location is rather generic and the specific location of the box is a
little bit different in practice from the location that's been assessed by BT.
So their contention is the coverage is not as good even on paper as BT suggests.
They have also visited the location and looked at reception on a variety of mobile phones
on different networks to assess in real world terms whether the mobile phone coverage is
the
public. So I would say that's a fairly robust approach to
checking their view on that. The basis of that evidence is
that there is insufficient mobile phone coverage to assure
coverage in an emergency and they'd like to retain the box.
So if I'm positive that for your consideration, if we then
perhaps move on to the other objection that is from Stowe in the Wold Town Council and a number
of residents in Stowe to the removal of the box on the Fosse Way which is the traffic light junction.
So I'm sure you and anyone listening at home will probably be familiar with the location.
Their contention is that it's a busy crossroads that have been a number of accidents there over
the years including damage to the railings. So you know there's relatively significant accidents
I suppose we could say. And looking at the sort of profile of both visitors and residents to stow that there's a quite an elderly
cohort of people there who may be less likely to use mobile phones.
So again, they would like to retain the box for that reason to ensure telephony at that location. And
then
the three locations we didn't hear back from. All three of those they are listed telephone kiosks. So
So if BT removed the telephones from those places,
the box itself will be retained.
So we will retain what we consider a heritage asset.
What will be taken away is the sort of old telephone
infrastructure that, frankly, on the evidence we have,
hasn't really been used recently anyway.
So I think that largely sets out the sort of the exceptions
to adopt and agree to what BT have put forward.
And the only other point I would like to suggest
and that I've covered in the report is
where BT either chooses to decommission a box
in spite of an objection
or where there has been agreement by the community
that the telephone can be removed,
if that kiosk, if the box itself,
the classic red telephone box is kept in that location
and the telephone is taken away. I'd like to suggest we propose to BT that they keep
open the opportunity for the community to adopt that box at some point in the future.
I think, you know, as a council we will be keen to avoid having a sort of listed structure standing
vacant potentially into dereliction without the community having that opportunity to address the
situation. I think that's all I have to say other than to respond to any comments or questions you
might have.
Thank you.
Thank you, Joseph.
Yeah, so in regards to Whittington and the first

4 Confirmation of comments

Councillor Claire Bloomer - 0:08:44
instance, is there options for us to be able to obviously,
because I can understand, you know, mobile coverage,
I hear it quite often that there is difficulties with people
being able to get mobile coverage and therefore the
telephone box being quite key in, you know,
an emergency situation possibly.
Is this all right for us to be able to keep this box and speak
can have a consultation with BT to say that actually, you know, with the
objections from the parish council that they would like to be
able to keep this box, is it possible for us to do that?
Officer - 0:09:18
I would say yes, it is. I mean, it goes to the core of this process that this is a
consultation. It's not a done deal. British Telecom and BT are obliged by
Ofcom, the national regulator, to consult with local people and with the local
authority in order to draw out precisely this kind of point.
Um, and you know, there's an acceptance that that their information on mobile
phone coverage cannot be as, as precise and as,
as tailored as somebody standing in the spot and who can tell on that basis.
So, um, it's, it's absolutely legitimate for us to go back. Um,
I would note that we don't have a sort of veto on this process, you know,
BT have to take on board our comments, that doesn't necessarily mean agreement,
but I would like to think that on the basis that a robust argument has been put forward
by both Whittington and indeed Stowe, that those points will be taken on board.
Councillor Claire Bloomer - 0:10:18
Thank you for confirming that Joseph. Yeah, and I think with both those with Stowe on the
wall and Whittington, I think if we can agree with the local residents there, they're the people that
We want to listen to our residents and our councils, our parish councils.
So if we could go back to BT and put forward those points, that would be wonderful.
On the three, I believe that have not been taken up by the council,
which is a shame because we'd love to see some community projects in those
or something being used for.
Will they, you know, you say the telephone itself will be removed
and they will be locked up, I believe. Is that correct?
and at some point can a parish or town council come back and then adopt that? Do
Officer - 0:11:07
we have a time level on that? Is there anything? So as the process stands
there's been no clarity at this point from BT on that. So their proposal was
to remove the telephony because in their view that's a
surplus to requirement but because they're listed structures they can't be
removed without listed building consent.
So that proposal in this consultation
was simply to leave those boxes in situ.
So as I suggested earlier,
I think a good measure for this council
will be to go back and say,
look, actually, can you keep that option of adoption,
sorry, that option of adoption by the local community open
so we can give that box a sort of positive future
if the community wants to take it on.
And by way of example I suppose from previous rounds a lot of
councils a lot of parish councils across the district
have used boxes to locate for example and community access
defibrillators or for sort of book lending libraries and many
other uses across the country that are quite innovative in
some cases.
So it will be great if BTC fit not to close the door to that.
Councillor Claire Bloomer - 0:12:17
OK that's wonderful on those recommendations I'm happy to

5 Public questions

with what you've recommended and we move forward I'm assuming.
Councillor Claire Bloomer - 0:12:28
So I'm assuming that item number four of confirmation of comments is those
comments that we've just received from those parishes and towns so we can move
on to item number five I believe if we've got any public open forum
questions? Yeah there were no public questions received. Wonderful and there's

6 Cabinet Member questions

7 Decision

Nickie Mackenzie-Daste, Officer - 0:12:50
Councillor Claire Bloomer - 0:12:51
no further questions from me. So moving on to number seven which is the decision.
I'm assuming that we just go forward and agree with the recommendations that have
been put forward by the officer? Yes so the recommendations put in the
Officer - 0:13:13
report were that the cabinet member for communities resolves to agree the council response for
each affected kiosk and to agree to encourage British talent communications limited to keep
open the option of community adoption for telephone kiosks retained after this process
has concluded. I do apologize that second one is a little bit wordy just because of
the nature of the situation, but I think it's a very positive proposal. Thank you.
Councillor Claire Bloomer - 0:13:42
Thank you. I am agreeing that we now take the reason of the decision at number 8.
I am happy to agree that and confirm that decision and thank the officers for their time in doing this work.
I would also like to add that I would love to visit some of these telephone boxes in the near future as and when they are adopted by the community.
Thank you.
Thank you.