Gunnersbury Ad Display Board Approved Despite Objections
Communications hub includes in-built defibrillator
The location of the new ad display board
at 548 Chiswick High Road
March 25, 2023
Hounslow Council planners are recommending approval for an ad display board on Chiswick High Road despite objections from local councillors and a local residents’ group.
The application (P/2022/4004) for the 8 feet high display board by JC Decaux is set to be granted with some conditions about the brightness rotation of the advertisements to limit the distraction to motorists.
The board, which also acts as a communications hub, would be placed at 548 Chiswick High Road near Wolfe Vets. It will display ads to eastbound traffic and, on the other side, there would be a defibrillator.
The unit was described by the applicant as a redefinition of a public payphone which will offer a free internet connection, free calls to landlines and charities, device charging and public messaging capabilities. Voice commands could be used to make calls to increase accessibility.
Existing JC Decaux advertising monoliths on Chiswick High Road carry a significant amount of advertising for Hounslow Council. Similar monoliths have been installed by the company in other parts of the country where objectors have claimed that the incorporation of a defibrillator is to ‘sweeten the pill’ and present what is essentially street clutter as a health benefit even though the need for such a device is not great at the locations chosen. In certain instances restrictions have had to be placed on the units to stop drug dealers using them to place untraceable calls.
An example of the type of display board to be installed on the High Road
A number of objections to the plan were received with residents claiming that the board would obscure car park gates of 546 Chiswick High Road and it bright lights and flashing could cause a distraction.
The West Chiswick & Gunnersbury Society said that it believed the board would be harmful to visual amenity and the adjacent Wellesley Road Conservation Area and that the site was inappropriate because the ground floor at 560 Chiswick High Road is residential.
Chiswick Gunnersbury councillors Joanna Biddolph and Ranjit Gill said that it was intrusive street clutter, affecting pedestrians, especially wheelchair users and that, other than the defibrillator, the services it provided were not needed.
The applicant presented a report from Egg Transport Planning which accepted limitation of the brightness of the ads and the speed at which they would rotate.
The council planner conclude that permission should be given as an appeal decision on the same site in 2019 suggested that a hub and advert would not unacceptably cluttering the street scene, not visually intrusive and did not represent an encroachment of a commercial nature into the nearby Conservation Area and its residential environment. The same decision also indicated that a hub would not further prevent highway users from noticing vehicles and harm highway safety.
A similar application for a digital billboard on the pavement by Chiswick Gate at 598—608 Chiswick High Road (P/2022/4009) is still in progress.
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