It’s great to see that the red heritage telephone box has been returned to Northcote Point. The box was removed in 2023 by Spark as part of their programme to remove public phone boxes and was due to demolish it. However as it is a listed Class A Heritage item, Spark was not allowed to remove it without a consent.

After it was removed, Auckland Council worked with Spark to ensure that the telephone box was repaired and restored correctly, before it was returned to Queen Street.

Spark has offered to gift the telephone box to Auckland Council, and a decision on whether to accept it, and where it should eventually be located, will be coming to the Kaipātiki Local Board this year. If the Local Board decides that council should accept it, then it could possibly become a little library or be relocated to somewhere like Jean Sampson Reserve.

The telephone box was not originally from Queen Street. It was sited at the corner of Onewa Rd and Gladstone Rd, but moved to Queen Street in the 1980s.

Photo credit: Ruth Jackson