Retention of Traditional Phone Box

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Letter to the Wycombe District Council

The Marlow Society has written to Wycombe District Council to oppose the removal of the public telephone box at the junction of Seymour Court Rise and Berwick Road. The current proposals by BT include the removal of three boxes in total from Marlow. Two of the boxes are at Parkway and Mundaydean Lane. They are both on the periphery of the town and are poorly located. On inspection Geoff Wood noted that, although the phone was working, both showed little signs of use, with cobwebs etc over the handset. The Society has therefore decided that it does not wish to press for the retention of these two phone boxes. The phone box at Seymour Court Road however occupies a prominent position on one of the main routes out of Marlow and is highly visible to motorists, cyclists and pedestrians. It is a busy area with plenty of residential and commercial properties in the close vicinity. During his inspection, Geoff Wood noted that the red Gilbert Scott type box had been seriously vandalised, with damage to several panes of glass and lots of glass fragments on the floor. The handset had been broken and the phone was not working. He contacted the owners of several neighbouring properties and they confirmed that the phone had been out of action for some time. BT and OFTEL were quoted in November 2001 as agreeing that: "What we are going to do is make sure BT provides the services that it has to provide in areas of high social need, in rural areas. We are not cutting back on that one little bit." The Marlow Society think that BT’s responsibilities under their Universal Service Obligation mean that they should keep this phone box in good repair for use by Marlow townsfolk who may not have the use of a mobile phone.