Telstra has commenced a review of payphones in the LGA and considers the review necessary to ensure that the future payphone needs in the Yass Valley are properly considered, councillors heard at the ordinary meeting of council on Wednesday October 28.

The review will look at changing payphone cabinet types to reduce vandalism, making some payphones cashless to improve serviceability, providing specialist technical support, removing under utilised payphones and reducing the number of payphones at some multiple sites if necessary.

An initial review has been undertaken in the Yass Valley, which proposed five payphones be removed. These include payphones on the Hume Highway at Bookham, on Burrinjuck Village Road at Burrinjuck, at the Yass Visitor Information Centre on Comur Street, at the Caravan Park on Grampian Street and at Walker Park.

To allow for feedback, both Telstra and Yass Valley Council have affixed separate notices inside the above payphones requesting public comment.

Telstra has also advised council about its plans to relocate the payphone on the corner of Meehan and Comur Street approximately 3.5 metres south to provide better access and stability. It has been suggested that this phone be made accessible to people with disabilities, something council would certainly welcome.

The report tabled in the council papers said usage of the payphone at the Visitor's Information Centre is 37 per cent lower than the payphone located 350 metres away on the corner of Lead and Comur Street, which is the highest patronised payphone in Yass.

The phone at the Visitor Information Centre has double the amount of faults compared to any other phone in Yass, of which more than half are vandalism or purposely caused blockages, the report also stated.

Councillors were unanimous in their concern that the community should be made well aware of the proposal to remove the above payphones and said it was imperative that community feedback is actively sought and submitted in a report to Telstra, if problems are identified.

Please call Telstra on 1800 011 433 or Yass Valley Council on 6226 1477 for more information or to express your thoughts or concerns about the above proposed payphone removals.