For the attention of Shenstone Parish Council 

by Streetly Red Phone Box Committee

represented by Anne-Marie Goodchild

 Objective

This paper has been prepared for the review, consideration, and acceptance by the Parish Council of the adoption of the Red Phone Box on Burnett Road, Streetly, from BT Group Plc for community use.  The phone box is identified by BT by its telephone number: 0121 353 2360.  

Executive Summary

It is hard to pass a red telephone box without feeling a twinge of admiration as these eight-foot-tall beacons conjure a romanticised vision of the UK.  The phone box in Burnett Road does not currently reflect that magnificence but it could and will do if we can adopt it and refurbish it. 

The phone box design K6 was commissioned to celebrate King George V’s Silver Jubilee in 1935 and we within Streetly (Both Lichfield and Birmingham side) want to save it for our village.

The communities of Wall adopted their phone box and until Covid 19 it was successful as a book exchange library. Whilst Streetly is a larger community, it has a very strong community spirt as demonstrated by initiatives like the Streetly Watch and the 691 people who have signed the petition to save it from being removed.  In addition, the local businesses, churches, and scouts are fully supportive and look forward to providing more hands-on support as the pandemic related safety measures are relaxed further.

Proposal for Phone Box Use

The proposal is to use the phone Box as a community notice board and plant display.  This is the simplest proposal in view of the current Covid pandemic, as setting it up as a community library is not safe.

The noticeboard will be inside the locked phone box and the Phone Box Committee, working with Streetly and Lichfield Community teams will establish a process for managing the updating of noticeboard, as well as its ongoing maintenance.

Support from the Community

691 people signed petition from both Walsall and Lichfield side of Streetly. (Councillor David Smith was sent details of the petition at the 500-signature stage). 

We have established a committee of 20 people (so far) prepared to restore and maintain the kiosk (See Appendix 1).

All shops in Burnett Road and Thornhill Road are supportive.  Only concern, raised by one shop owner was keeping phone box locked because of the youths walking along Burnett road from the park.  Mocha Coffee lounge and XO Lounge have offered support in the near future as due to their recent re-opening following Covid 19, they are prioritising their businesses.

Both Streetly and Sutton Coldfield Scouts have said there is a possibility of them being involved as part of their community activities, but they are unable to fully commit at this stage as they have no face to face meetings due to the same Covid restrictions.

The Committee has put a sponsorship proposal forward to the Co-operative head office and press office and are currently awaiting a response.

All Saints Church in Foley Road East is fully supportive of the adoption and Rev Mandy Walker has been instrumental in helping with contacts in the community to help.

Projection of Financial needs

Following the successful adoption of the red phone box by Shenstone Parish Council, the committee will self-fund the refurbishment and ongoing maintenance of the phone box.

Therefore, as a community the initial money will be raised through Just Giving and/or Crowdfunding campaigns, followed by potential sponsorship from the local businesses, plus other local fund-raising activities (once pandemic is over).

Initial costs estimation:

Expenditure Item	Price
K6 Paint Kit from X2connect	£145
New Perspex for windows (24 Poly)	£145
K6 custom signs (Information etc)	£100
Cleansing of phone Box	Cleaned by Committee
Noticeboard	£50
Contingency (i.e. new door straps etc)	£100
Plant holders	Sourced from Locals
Solar light	£50
Phone Box Lock	£50
Labour	Community Payback* or Volunteers
Total	£640

*We will also be looking into the Community Payback scheme as used by Wall to convert their kiosk but, in view of Covid, the committee may have to restore it ourselves in the short term with the volunteer resource.

Risks

We accept there are risks to this proposal and have tried to identify some of the key ones and put our proposals for managing them as best as possible.

• Covid 19 – Mitigated through re-purposing the phone box for use as closed and locked. (Although we would like to look in the future to use it as a library)
• Anti-sociable behaviour e.g. using box as public convenience or to take solvents. With the phone box locked this will make the situation better than its present state. However, only one of the local shops raised this as a potential issue (not the Co-Op). We would also establish a link with the local shops/residents to ensure early intervention in relation to any problems occurring so that their concerns will be addressed.
• Ensuring Parish Council do not get left with liability for the phone box with no local support due to people moving or lack of interest. – The committee will provide regular updates to the Parish Council (even if only written email/memo).   We will also sure that we can continue to get community support through identifying reliable and creative people which will allow the committee to grow and evolve.
• Electric supply responsibility ownership resulting in expensive costs – The committee is learning from the experience of the community of Wall, which took over the responsibility for the electric supply which later proved to be expensive.  The committee propose that Option 1 is requested as part of the adoption process:

Option1:

BT Payphones will continue to be responsible for the electrical supply and any payments to the electricity companies for that supply. BT reserves the right to disconnect the electricity supply at some point in the future, however BT will contact the kiosk owner should this become necessary. Electrical equipment cannot be connected to the electrical supply unless agreed with BT. At the point of adoption BT will ensure that the light will be working but from then on BT will only be responsible for the supply into the kiosk to the point of the fusebox. Any future faults beyond this point will be the responsibility of the phone box owner.

Option 2

The Parish Council take over responsibility for electric supply

Recommendation

Further works are currently being undertaken by the committee to progress the following:

• Continuous campaign for raising awareness in the area.
• Risk assessments: health & safety,
• Sponsorship proposals.
• Funding plan – initial and long term.
• Gathering intelligence to identify the best people for the required roles as part of the refurbishment and ongoing maintenance.
• Operation and maintenance plan.

It is recognised that at this moment in time, this paper does not cover detailed information regarding the above, however, BT have kindly put on hold the recovery of this phone box, once informed about the initiative of the community, even though the consultation period was over and hence we only have a small window to save it.

We know that Streetly is not a “quaint village” like Wall and Shenstone, but it has a strong village community and this Phone Box will help reflect that and make this an asset the local people can enjoy.

Over 6000 phone boxes have been adopted (even Villagers in Ambridge – in BBC Radio 4’s long-running drama The Archers – have adopted their own phone box). 

Now that a committee is in place and opportunities have been identified, the Parish Council is kindly asked to offer the community of Streetly village the opportunity to save this important icon as we are proud of our high street. The restored phone box will enhance the character of the high street as we are sure it did when first placed there in the 1930’s1940’s.

We accept its only £1 to adopt and that you then carry the risk going forward but hope we are able to convince you all of our commitment to save this for now and into the future.

Yours in hope

Streetly Phone Box Committee

Appendix 1

Streetly Phone Box Committee

Name	Committee role	Name	Committee role
Jennifer Gray	Temporary Chair	Raymond Goodchild	General Member
Anne-Marie Goodchild	Temporary Secretary	Helen Haughton	General Member
Ramona Mihailescu	Temporary Assistant Sec	John Jennings	General Member
Angela Bannister	General Member	Martin McQueen	General Member
Julie Barlow	General Member	Patricia Motzheim	General Member
Lisa Bellamy	General Member	Claire Pilmer	General Member
Monica Bett	General Member	Anne Simpson	General Member
Kate Blabey	General Member	James Teacherr	General Member
David Brown	General Member	Mary Wheeler	General Member
Phil Campion	General Member	William Wheeler	General Member