News / Broadmead
Pay phone boxes to be replaced by digital screen despite opposition
Pay phone boxes at Broadmead in Bristol’s city centre will soon be removed and replaced with a new digital advertising screen.
The BT Street Hub will be installed on Merchant Street and will let users access WIFI, make free 30-second phone calls, and charge their phones. Digital displays on each side of the hub will show LED adverts.
BT now has planning permission for its new street hub screen, after Bristol City Council’s development control committee gave approval on August 24.
is needed now More than ever
Councillors were told the new hub would be an improvement to the street than “obsolete and eyesore” phone boxes.
How the new Street Hub unit would look – photo: BT
Lib Dem Councillor for Brislington West Andrew Varney said: “I’m a little bit concerned about how the phone box removal is being used almost as a bargaining chip to get permission for these digital hubs. I’m really pleased that these phone boxes are going to be removed, they’re mostly obsolete and real eyesores. But I would just like them to be removed anyway, rather than waiting for an application for a digital hub to come along.”
The new hub will also include sensors to count pedestrians and bicycles. Concerns had been raised about the plans by several local residents and campaign groups, as well as Avon and Somerset Police who feared the new hub could be used for antisocial behaviour. But councillors said none of these objections would stand up in a planning appeal.
Tory councillor for Bishopsworth Richard Eddy, who is also chair of the development control committee, said: “We have to look very carefully at the grounds we give consent or refuse, and I don’t believe these are sustainable reasons to oppose this.”
Alex Seabrook is a local democracy reporter for Bristol
Main photo: Martin Booth
Read more: Replacing phone booths with advertising screens ‘infringement’ on rights
Listen to the latest Bristol24/7 Behind the Headlines podcast:
Our top newsletters emailed directly to you
