Pavement o/s Astor House, 163 Notte Street, Plymouth, PL1 2AQ

installation of 1no. new BT Street Hub, incorporating 75” LCD advert screens plus the removal of 2no. associated BT kiosks

Authority: Plymouth City Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: advertisement · Other minor developments
Inspector: McGurk N

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

The effect that the proposal would have on the character and appearance of the setting of the City Centre Conservation Area
Its effect on highway and/or pedestrian safety

What decided it

The visual intrusiveness of the BT Street Hub and its attention-grabbing digital advertisements within an otherwise open, clutter-free setting, combined with the risk of distraction to highway and pedestrian users in a busy location close to junctions, outweighed the community benefits offered.

The less than substantial harm to the setting of the City Centre Conservation Area and the significant harm to highway and pedestrian safety were not outweighed by the community benefits of free Wi-Fi, phone calls, wayfinding, device charging and emergency services access.

Plan policies cited: SO3, PLY6, DEV20, DEV21, DEV1, DEV29

Read the decision letter on the Inspectorate’s site

The main issues and the deciding factor are read from the published letter by Town Planner Pro; the letter itself is the record. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Research, not advice.

What an account adds

Draw a red line around your site and the appraisal follows.

Heritage. Listed buildings by grade and distance, conservation areas, scheduled monuments, registered parks and gardens, heritage at risk.
Landscape and environment. Green belt, national parks and national landscapes, SSSIs, ancient woodland, SPA, SAC and Ramsar sites, nutrient catchments.
Flooding. Flood zones 2 and 3, surface water, and both again with climate change.
Transport. The 800 metre station catchment and service frequency, bus stops with their weekday frequency, the cycle network, and the Framework’s transport tests measured for the site.

Then the development plan position, the housing land supply as an Inspector last accepted it, and every appeal decided around the site with its letter.

Every English appeal since 2016, with the letter behind it wherever the Inspectorate published one. Searched by meaning as well as by words, with the key case law counted live across the letters.

Casework that chases the deadlines. Applications, appeals and conditions with their statutory dates.

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