HC Deb 23 July 1963 vol 681 cc1239-40
5. Mr. Randall

asked the Postmaster-General in what circumstances applications for the placing of overhead telegraphic lines were forwarded recently by him to the borough of Gateshead.

Mr. Mawby

The applications were made under the Telegraph Acts for consent to place five poles and wires in the streets of Gateshead in order to provide telephone service.

Mr. Randall

Is the Assistant Postmaster-General aware that Gateshead Borough and I myself are very appreciative that 300 and more telegraph poles have been removed during the last five years, but why does he not co-operate with the local authority in preserving the amenities of new estates, instead of putting in these ugly, wretched poles, only to remove them at a later date?

Mr. Mawby

This is a problem which we are faced with every day. Where there is likely to be a large number of subscribers in the area it is obviously best to bury the whole of the cables, but it is important to remember that burying cables can cost as much as 10 times more than putting up poles. In this particular case there seems little likelihood of more than about seven subscribers in the next 20 years. This is a matter which we have to take into account, and much as we should like to help in this matter we feel at the moment that we shall have to carry these lines overhead.

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