Phone box battle takes step forward

THERE may be light at the end of the tunnel in Newcastle’s bid to put a stop to the city’s “Trojan” phone box troubles.

Exasperated council bosses have been urging the Government for months to take action against developers who are exploiting a legal loophole which allows new telephone boxes to effectively act as little more than advertising billboards.

Now the Government has launched a consultation which could result in much stricter regulations being brought into force.

Phone boxes are currently treated as “permitted developments” – meaning companies only need a licence from Ofcom to install one rather than requiring full planning permission, though councils can object. Newcastle City Council and other authorities across the country have complained companies have taken advantage of that loophole to erect phone boxes that serve largely as advertising boards.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is now looking at scrapping the permitted development rights for phone boxes and tightening up constraints on ads.

Kath Lawless, the council’s assistant director of planning, said: “The Government has issued a consultation paper in relation to permitted development rights. Within that paper they are consulting on a proposal to change the regulations.

“I think that is due in no short measure to the work Newcastle City Council has done in terms of lobbying the Government on the issue.”

Council planning officers have been struggling with phone box applications over the past two years, with figures showing Newcastle had 95 applications in 2017 compared with just one in 2015.

MHCLG’s consultation document added: “Recognising there is already an existing public telephone network in place, we propose removing the permitted development right for public call boxes.

“This would not prevent a new public call box being installed: rather in the future it would be the subject of consideration through a full planning application.

“This would not alter the lawfulness of existing public call boxes, or interfere with any industry requirement for the adequate provision of public telephones in order to meet the reasonable needs of individuals and communities and where there is a social need for their retention or their use in supporting the delivery of 5G.”