Residents of a tiny Suffolk village where mobile phone coverage is so bad that the public pay phone is still used hundreds of times a day have been dealt a further blow after an application for a new phone mast was withdrawn by the landowner.
BT is currently consulting with local councils about removing dozens of their “least profitable” public telephones.
Where most of the county’s 273 at risk phone boxes have only had a handful of calls in the past year, villagers in Elmsett, near Hadleigh, are fighting to save theirs because there have been 673 calls made from it during that period.
Dennis Hill, owner of the Rose and Crown pub opposite the payphone, said the high level of calls is because there is “virtually no mobile phone signal” in the village. Mr Hill was one of 300 people who signed a petition started by South Suffolk MP James Cartlidge to push for a mobile phone mast.
However, it has now emerged that an application for a mast on land to the east of Potash Farm in Ipswich Road has been withdrawn due to local opposition.
The parish council was consulted by the applicant prior to the application, and at an informal public meeting, around 20 nearby residents expressed concerns regarding the possible effects to health, devaluation of properties, creation of access behind properties and the overall environmental impact of the erection of the tower. The parish council recognised these concerns but agreed that there was a need for better mobile coverage in the village.
Mr Cartlidge has warned that the opportunity to obtain that could now be lost if another suitable site is not found quickly.
He said: “I have campaigned on the issue of better mobile signal in South Suffolk because I know the negative impact felt by communities which are ‘not spots’ or partial ‘not spots’. They feel unable to benefit from a resource that most communities take for granted.
“In the case of Elmsett, I received over 300 signatures from the village supporting my petition for better mobile signal.
“Taken together with the story in the EADT about the public phone box, this underscores the strong need for a mast in the village and the extent of support.”
Mr Cartlidge said he recognised that any specific mast site had to be acceptable to those most affected and he understood the “right of local people to object”.
But he added: “We have to recognise that this was not a Government subsidised mast but a commercial provider who is under no obligation to maintain their interest in Elmsett, and we have to accept the reality that the opportunity for the village to obtain better coverage may now be gone unless a viable, supported site is forthcoming soon.”
Published by the East Anglian Daily Times.