A Streetly woman has launched a campaign to save one of Britain’s iconic red telephone kiosks.
Anne-Marie Goodchild spotted a notice inside the 1950s kiosk in Burnett Road, Streetly, from BT, which said that it was to be removed because it was no longer economically viable.
“I’ve always liked our red kiosks as they are a real symbol of Britain, so when I saw the notice I wanted to do something to save it,” she said.
She hopes the phonebox, which is believed to date back to the 1950s, will be adopted by Staffordshire County Council – it sits just inside the Staffs border, despite being in Streetly – and that it could be transformed into a community asset, such as book exchange.
In just a couple of weeks, Anne-Marie got BT to promise that it will not remove the kiosk while she speaks to councillors about the adoption, which will cost it just £1, and establish how it will be maintained.
“At first we thought it was in Walsall, and the council was keen to support adopting the kiosk, but it quickly became clear that it sat in Staffordshire, so I’m hoping that because there are already adopted ones in Shenstone and Wall that the council there will be willing to save this one,” she said.
Once the plea about the phonebox was posted on the Streetly Community group page on Facebook, a petition was raised to save it and more than 500 people have signed it.
“We’re still in the early stages of the campaign, but I’m hoping that we can get the council on board quickly and then we can look at how we put a committee together to maintain it,” added Anne-Marie.