Initial Climate Change Impact Assessment

The intention of this document is to help the council to gain an initial understanding of the impact of a project or decision on the environment. This document should be completed in consultation with the supporting guidance. Dependent on this initial assessment you may need to go on to complete a full Climate Change Impact Assessment. The final document will be published as part of the decision-making process.

If you have any additional queries, which are not covered by the guidance please email climatechange@northyorks.gov.uk

Title of proposal	North Yorkshire Council
Brief description of proposal	To seek approval of the response to BT regarding the latest batch (April 2026) of BT “last at site” payphone removals throughout North Yorkshire.
Directorate	Community Development
Service area	Planning
Lead officer	Linda Marfitt, Head of Policy and Place
Names and roles of other people involved in carrying out the impact assessment	Rachael Hutton, Planning Policy and Place Manager Paula Craddock, Planning Policy and Place Officer (CG)

The chart below contains the main environmental factors to consider in your initial assessment – choose the appropriate option from the drop-down list for each one.

Remember to think about the following;

· Travel

· Construction

· Data storage

· Use of buildings

· Change of land use

· Opportunities for recycling and reuse

Environmental factor to consider	For the council	For the county	Overall
Greenhouse gas emissions	No effect on emissions	No Effect on emissions	No effect on emissions
Waste	No effect on waste	No effect on waste	No effect on waste
Water use	No effect on water usage	No effect on water usage	No effect on water usage
Pollution (air, land, water, noise, light)	No effect on pollution	No effect on pollution	No effect on pollution
Resilience to adverse weather/climate events (flooding, drought etc)	No effect on resilience	No effect on resilience	No effect on resilience
Ecological effects (biodiversity, loss of habitat etc)	No effect on ecology	No effect on ecology	No effect on ecology
Heritage and landscape	No effect on heritage and landscape	No effect on heritage and landscape	No effect on heritage and landscape

If any of these factors are likely to result in a negative or positive environmental impact then a full climate change impact assessment will be required. It is important that we capture information about both positive and negative impacts to aid the council in calculating its carbon footprint and environmental impact.

Decision (Please tick one option)	Full CCIA not relevant or proportionate:	P	Continue to full CCIA:
Reason for decision	Under the Communications Act 2003, within North Yorkshire, BT are the designated telephony Universal Service Provider. Under the Universal Service Conditions they are required to ensure the adequate provision, repair and maintenance of public call boxes.  There is a specific approach that BT must take when proposing the removal of a “last at site” payphone.  The North Yorkshire Council response to BT is required to be provided to BT to meet the deadline posted, in line with the Universal Service Requirements and in line with the Ofcom regulations and guidance provided in  Review of the telephony universal service obligation. North Yorkshire Council have to provide a considered response for each of the identified BT Payphones, whether to support the proposed removal or to object to the proposed removal within the deadline for responses to BT.   The consultation also provides local communities the opportunity to adopt a kiosk for another use. The decision whether to remove a “last at site” payphone or not rests with BT and is final. The North Yorkshire Council response to BT includes reference to the use of the “last at site” BT payphones.  The North Yorkshire Council response is to object to the removal of the last at site payphone in the first instance, followed by support for applications for adoption of the kiosk for an alternative use.  The North Yorkshire Council response includes also reference to: · resilience to adverse weather/climate events through power outages and extreme weather events · heritage and landscape.  o Many of the BT payphone kiosks are Listed Buildings and some of the BT payphone kiosks are within the setting of a Listed Building.  BT have advised that should they make the decision to continue to remove a payphone that: § For those Listed building kiosks where the community do not wish to adopt the payphone for another use, the telephony will be removed and the kiosk will be locked.  Maintenance of the kiosk remains with BT. § For those Listed Building kiosks where the community wish to adopt, the telephony is removed and the kiosk will remain as a feature in the landscape with its new use. o Some of the BT payphones are traditional red kiosks, but are not Listed Buildings.  For these kiosks, the contribution of that payphone kiosk to the landscape is considered. It is recognised in this initial climate change impact assessment that should BT consider that the evidence and response from North Yorkshire Council is not sufficient to retain the payphones in use that there could be: 1. a slight increase in waste due to the recycling / disposal of material from those payphones and kiosks that BT will remove entirely and from the removal of telephony from those kiosks where the kiosk is to be adopted for an alternative use by the community or for those kiosks that are a Listed Building.  2. A decrease in resilience of the community to adverse weather/climate events through power outages and extreme weather events. 3. A decrease in the heritage and landscape with the potential removal of red non-Listed Building kiosks from the landscape.
Signed (Assistant Director or equivalent)	Kathryn Daly
Date	20 March 2026