Sydney payphone upgrade plan heads to court after objections from residents, business leaders

A court battle is looming over contentious plans to replace dozens of Telstra payphones with larger models that critics fear will block footpaths and create “huge eyesores” on busy Sydney streets.

A concept image of one of the new Telstra payphone booths.

A court battle is looming over contentious plans to replace dozens of Telstra payphones with larger models that critics fear will block footpaths and create “huge eyesores” on busy Sydney streets.

Multinational media giant JCDecaux had launched a Land and Environment Court appeal against the City of Sydney in a bid to have new smart phone booths approved on 38 footpath locations in the CBD.

The new booths – known as ‘smart city payphones’ – boast features including mobile phone charging points, Wi-Fi, public transport information and public emergency messaging systems.

Plans by JCDecaux described the new structures as replacing outdated infrastructure with “the first genesis of a modern payphone” that would support the “ever growing digital connections that bind communities” together.

But the $975,000 plan has sparked dozens of objections from CBD residents over the size and scale of booths that critics fear will take up valuable footpath space and make navigating streets challenging for people with people with prams or disabilities.

A concept image of the new payphone on Liverpool St.

There are also objections to new digital advertising screens that would cover the side and rear panels of the booths which some critics have described as “huge advertising billboards”

Plans show the new payphones would measure 2.73m tall – making them 24 per cent taller than the existing 2.2m models.

A photo the comparison between the current payphone model (left) and the upgraded model (right)

Resident Yotam Eren has written to the council saying he was “disgusted” by the proposal.

“These big wide ads will obstruct the footpaths and be a huge eyesore. They achieve their inventions of literally being shoved in my face by blocking the walkway,” he said. “Get these monstrosities off our pathways.”

Kevin Cheng, co-founder of Soul of Chinatown, a group advocating for the survival of the precinct, believes the booths could be “detrimental to public open space”.

“Nobody uses payphones anymore and residents deserve a break from excessive advertising,” he said. “They will clog up the sidewalks for pedestrianisation and will create issues for those less mobile.”

The new payphones would have features such as Wi-Fi.

JCDecaux, in its plans to the council, downplayed concerns over the visual impact of the booths.

“The proposal will achieve a vibrant and visually interesting advertisement structure consistent with the principles and themes for outdoor advertising,” the plans state.

“The (payphones) remain sympathetic to the character of the locality and surrounding land uses and will not threaten the safety of vehicles, pedestrians, or cyclists.”

Plans show the majority of payphones will be installed at the same locations as the existing payphones, with the exception of two at Bay St, Glebe and Mountain St, Chippendale that will be relocated within 10m and 26m from the existing locations.

A map showing the locations of where payphones will be upgraded.

In a statement, JCDecaux said the proposal would upgrade the “payphone cabinets which were designed and installed in 1983”.

“Most of the locations are in non-pedestrian thoroughfares within the lines of other existing street furniture such as benches, trees, outdoor cafes, and bins so as not to impede pedestrian flow,” a spokesman said.

“The focus is on principally increasing the height rather than the width of the new booths to reduce possible pedestrian impact.

“Other Telstra cabinets across our Sydney network have already been upgraded to the same size meaning the proposed upgrade would bring the central Sydney Telstra cabinets in line with the rest of the JCDecaux Telstra cabinets across other Sydney areas.”

A concept image of the new payphone.

The City of Sydney confirmed JCDecaux had lodged an appeal to the Land and Environment Court after the proposal was ‘deemed refused’ by the council after it was not determined within a 40 day time frame.

“As the matter is before the court, we are unable to provide any additional details,” a council spokeswoman said.

The proposal follows a City of Sydney crackdown on large advertising material on footpaths after separate plans by QMS for advertising billboards at bus shelters sparked backlash last year.

The public outcry over the billboards prompted Lord Mayor Clover Moore in October to direct the council’s executive officer to work with QMS to remove any billboards that “have a significant negative impact on pedestrian movement”.

A concept image of the payphone upgrade near Market City.

The proposal by JCDecaux shows the digital screens on the smart city payphones would measure as big as 1.6m tall by 0.9m wide.

A majority of submissions to the City of Sydney have opposed the upgrades. Resident Ali Montgomery believes the new booths could deter people from visiting the CBD.

“Forcing pedestrians to move in single file through bottlenecks caused by advertising billboards is not only dystopian but also generally discourages future visits,” she said.

“I would feel less inclined to spend time in an area that clearly prioritises advertising revenue above the experience and mobility of residents and visitors.”

Telstra currently has about 14,000 public payphones nationwide, with almost 19 million free calls made in the last year. About 3000 of the booths are currently equipped with Wi-Fi.

The appeal is listed for directions in the Land and Environment Court on February 23.