Last time I asked what sort of planning restriction may be determined by just looking at a UK phone box. Many of the classic red telephone boxes have been awarded listed building status, which means those are protected under planning legislation. The famous UK telephone boxes were designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, who was also the architect of such landmark buildings as Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral (he’s buried outside in the doorway), Battersea Power Station (the four chimneys of which were built by Mouchel, now WSP) and Bankside Power Station (now the Tate Modern). Gilbert Scott won the competition to design a telephone ‘kiosk’ in 1924 and over 1 700 of his winning ‘K2’ kiosks were installed from 1926, nearly all of them in London. 224 are still in situ and they are all Grade II listed by English Heritage. Over time the design was modified and now the classic British red telephone box is epitomized by the smaller K6 kiosk. About 60 000 K6s were installed from 1935 and about 11 700 remain operational across Great Britain and N Ireland, with 2 500 of these also listed. So if you spot a K2 you know you are looking at a listed building whereas a K6 or other red box design only might have a planning restriction associated with it. There are a lots of phone box variants but the image here shows a K2 (left) and K6 (right) for comparison – this pair are in Smithfield Market, London. There’s just 1 K1 – it’s just inside the entrance to the Royal Academy.
Phone boxes usually sit on land that does not belong to the telephone company. Instead land referencers record the phone company (usually but not always BT) as an occupier as well as one of the statutory undertakers associated with the land. We treat other street furniture installations in the same way and some of these might be listed too if they are old or rare. Examples include police boxes (like Dr Who’s time-travelling TARDIS), AA call boxes (19 remain of the 100 installed and 8 of these are listed) and items like those pictured below. In the course of site work if you spot anything in the street that isn’t the responsibility of the highway authority (the district, borough or county council) or is unusual you need to make sure to take a note and check for any listed status or if there is anything unusual about the ownership of the item or the land it occupies.
Next week we will ponder just what a ‘county’ is so we better understand who might be relevant local authority. So ask yourself which county you live in. Are you sure you know? Is that a historic or a ceremonial council or a county council or some combination of the two?
This article is written by Ashley Parry Jones, Director – Planning, WSP. The opinions expressed are those of the author and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of WSP or SoLR or its members. The information provided does not and is not intended to constitute legal advice and instead is offered for general purposes only. It does not constitute the most up to date legal information. Any links and references provided are for the readers’ convenience only and do not constitute a recommendation of those sources.