TOWN councillors have backed plans to install a digital kiosk in Newquay town centre.

Newquay Town Council’s planning committee has supported BT’s planning application to erect a street hub and remove a payphone outside the post office in East Street.

It follows the planning committee objecting to BT’s planning application to erect a street hub at Cliff Road, which includes the removal of four associated payphones, over concerns whether the scheme would be fully integrated into the wider plans for the location.

BT’s modern, multifunctional digital kiosks, which aim to replace outdated public payphones, have already been rolled out in parts of the country.

The street hubs offer free ultrafast Wi-Fi, free phone calls, emergency service access, rapid device charging, public information and wayfinding, environmental monitoring and 4G/5G boosting capability.

The BT Street Hub project aims to modernise street infrastructure, reduce street clutter by replacing larger, older phone boxes, and support the creation of "smart cities.”

BT partners with Global, a media and entertainment group, for the advertising aspects of the project, which fully funds the deployment and maintenance of the hubs at no cost to the taxpayer or local authorities.

Cornwall Council is due to have the final say on the plans.

BT’s proposals follow technology firm Urban Innovation Company receiving planning permission to erect 12 two-sided Pulse Smart Hubs at locations including Berry Road, Bank Street, Chester Road, Central Square, Cliff Road, Fore Street, Henver Road, Headland Road, Narrowcliff, Pentire Road, Treloggan Road and Wiliam Hosking Road.

Cornwall Council planners decided the proposal is” acceptable” despite acknowledging the kiosks would have a visual impact on the existing streetscape They concluded any perceived harm on the existing landscape is not considered to be outweighed by the significant community benefits brought the proposal.