A planning appeal lodged by advertising firm Wildstone to install a digital screen at an MFG forecourt has been refused by the Planning Inspectorate.
The proposals were first rejected in December last year by Thurrock Council, which refused permission for a 2.4m high by 1.2m wide screen to be installed at the entrance to an Esso site in Purfleet on Thames, Essex. The authority said the screen “would be a distraction to drivers” that could represent a “road safety hazard”, and also said that it would create “visual clutter”.
Wildstone lodged an appeal with the Planning Inspectorate, but this too was unsuccessful. The government authority visited the site as part of its assessment, and ultimately sided with Thurrock. The inspector found that “the proposed illuminated advertisement, with its display of static but changing imagery, would be likely to divert some drivers’ attention at a critical time when vehicles ahead may be braking and slowing down to turn into the site”.
This latest case is one of a series of instances of Wildstone applying for permission to install digital advertising screens at MFG forecourts, with unsuccessful applications often seeing the firm appeal, sometimes successfully. Authorities refusing permission for the digital boards often cite concerns over driver distraction, loss of character to the area, and visual clutter.
