COMMUNITY WIN: PAYPHONES TO STAY IN EAST GIPPSLAND
May 13, 2009
Payphones at Combienbar, Club Terrace, Ensay and Genoa will remain after a well-fought community battle with Telstra.
The Nationals Member for Gippsland Darren Chester said the community had banded together to send a message to Telstra that the payphones must be retained in case of emergency.
Telstra recently advertised plans to remove several payphones across Gippsland claiming they were unprofitable.
Mr Chester has been lobbying Telstra directly and sought the assistance of the Federal Minister to retain the payphones on the grounds of community safety.
Mr Chester has today received notice that the payphones at Combienbar, Club Terrace, Ensay, and Genoa will stay and said it was a win for the community.
“These pay phones are located in regions where mobile phone coverage is inconsistent and the removal of the phone booths would create a risk to public safety, particularly in emergency situations,” Mr Chester said.
“In case of fire or a motor vehicle accident, these pay phones may be the only means of communication for the travelling public, given the absence of mobile phone coverage.
“I am glad that commonsense has prevailed and in this instance, Telstra has been able to look past the economics and retain the pay phones as a community service.”
Mr Chester said the recent fatal accident on the Monaro Highway exposed problems with mobile phone coverage in far East Gippsland.
“I made the point to Telstra that these phones are located in fire prone regions and must be retained on the grounds of community safety.”
At this stage, the only payphone to be removed from East Gippsland is in Orbost and Telstra argues that there are other payphones in Orbost in case of emergency.
Mr Chester said Telstra was yet to announce how many pay phones would be retained at Cann River, but he had made it clear to Telstra that pay phone access at Cann River was vital for community safety and emergency situations.