Telephone box – Update

*** Update***

Residents have expressed their wishes to keep the Telephone box and working telephone within the village, as such an objection has been submitted to North Yorkshire Council. Please see below:

25^th April 2025

Dear Ms Jackson,

Cridling Stubbs Parish Council, (CSPC) would like to officially object to the removal of the public Telephone and Telephone box form Cridling Stubbs WF11.

The reasons for this decision are as follows:

• The poor and unreliable mobile network service provided by all network providers within the area of Cridling Stubbs. Therefore, the public Telephone and the actual box itself remains a vital form of communication within Cridling Stubbs.

• Even though the providers are working on improving the service and it is advertised as ‘good’, the reality is that the public very often still can’t get a connection. Due to this then public Telephone is a link between the public and the emergency services.

• The Defibrillator has been situated opposite the phone box for the precise reason of poor mobile phone coverage in the area, so the public have a safe and reliable connection with the emergency services. The public Telephone is a reassurance in a highly stressful situation that there is a reliable connection with the emergency services.

• At this moment in time there is no requirements to obtaining any security codes, but within this financial year a new secure Defibrillator box which will provided, which will require a security code. This code will be provided by the emergency service at the point of contact that can be made using the telephone in the telephone box.

• The telephone box not only provides a secure and reliable connection with emergency services, it also provides it to contact non-emergency services or trusted next of keen when they are required.

• Within the Cridling Stubbs area residents and public that do not have access to a mobile phone, either due to the cost or limited IT literacy skills, through both demographics or health, accessibility and Inclusion for all is vital. The Telephone box is essential for these vulnerable for residents, the public and children. The removal of phone box can disproportionately affect these individuals, leading to communication difficulties and feeling of isolation.

• The nearest public telephone box, if the one in Cridling Stubbs is removed, is at Marine Villa Rd, Knottingley, 4667.1meters away. The only way, (apart from private transport as there is no public transport to/from the village) is to walk to that location along a dangerous country road with no pavement for pedestrians, prams, families or disabled people either walking or using wheelchairs. This public phone is outside the 400-meter radius stipulated by Ofcom. 

• The residents of Cridling Stubbs view the phone box is a source of local identity and heritage therefore the removal of phone box will be seen as a loss of a familiar landmark and will have a negative impact on the community’s character. 

A survey was carried out by CSPC to obtain the resident’s views between 13^th April 2025 – 20^th April 2025.

This was carried out by the following:

• A leaflet was delivered on the 13^th April 2025 to all 78 properties within the CSPC Boundary. This leaflet gave details of BT’s proposal to remove the Telephone and Telephone box. It requested a response from residents to BT’s proposal by indicating if they wanted CSPC to Object to the removal, so the phone service remains, or the Adoption of the Telephone box by CSPC, which would result in the phone being disconnected. Also, given the residents opportunity to make comments.

The same information was displayed/posted on Facebook, CSPC’s official website and the Village notice board.

• 31 responses were received via 16 x leaflets returned with 21 residents votes/views, 6 x emails, with 9 residents votes/views, 1 x Objections emailed directly to North Yorkshire Council.

The results were as follows:

Some of the views expressed in the Survey were:

– If someone in the village was/is a victim of domestic violence, the phone box provides them with a way to contact support without being overheard.

– If someone in the village needed some other form of support (e.g. mental health, etc.), the phone box also provides them with a way to contact support without being overheard.

– If someone was driving in the area and broke down and couldn’t contact help because their phone was dead and due to the phone signal in the area is so patchy/poor, they can contact help.

– The phone signal in the area is incredibly unreliable and the phone box provides a reliable means of contact, particularly as more and more people no longer have a landline phone.

– We have so little as it is in the village: our bus service was stopped, our mobile library was stopped, our pub was turned into a house, our school was closed, we no longer have an allotment, and we have never had a shop or a church. The phone box is one of the only things we have left as a village, taking it will leave us with virtually nothing. People who live in villages like ours are struggling so much: it is so depressing to live somewhere where everything is being taken away from you, and you are being cutting off more and more. Taking the phone box away from us will just isolate us even more and be such a hit to our morale.

– The phone box is so important historically and culturally both to the village and on a national level. On a national level, the number of traditional red phone boxes as dwindled, and as such removing this one would be such a loss of historical and cultural value. With regard to the village, the phone box has been and continues to be an integral part of village life: it features in village art, people have so many memories associated with it, and just this Easter, a model of a rabbit has been placed in it as part of an Easter egg hunt for the village children demonstrating the part it plays in the village and the fact that it is so much more than a phone box, and so much more.

– The phone box was taken away once before and the village made their feelings known so strongly, they were forced to bring it back – if it is taken away again, the village will put up that same level of fight.

– CSPC has a primary consideration should be the safety and security of residents, before any thoughts about alternative uses for the phone box as and when the mobile phone coverage is eventually good enough to mean a land line is genuinely no longer required.

Thank you for your time and patience on this matter and CSPC would kindly request that all the above points be taken into consideration when North Yorkshire Council, (NYC) make their decision.

Should NYC decided not to Object to the removal of the Public Telephone and Box, or BT reject NYC’s Objection, CSPC kindly request that they are informed of this decision ASAP so CSPC can apply to adopt the Telephone box.

Kind regards,

Cllr Simon Riley,

Chair Cridling Stubbs Parish Council.

*** Original Post***

We have recently been informed that BT is intending to remove the telephone box in Cridling Stubbs. A leaflet drop including feedback form will take place Sunday 13th April, to ask all residents, including those who don’t follow the social media, to express their opinion. The feedback from, emails and Facebook posts will be consolidated and should it become clear at that point that the residents wish to object against the removal, the PC will put the objection in as the deadline is 30th April. The matter will also be brought to the PC meeting in May.

In the meantime please feel free to email :
simon@cridlingstubbs.com
to express your opinion or email your objection directly to North Yorkshire Council at:
LocalPlanNYC@northyorks.gov.uk

Thank you for your support.

Cridling Stubbs Parish Council