Bath Press developer City & Country has doubled down on its efforts to keep a controversial outdoor TV screen next to busy crossroads despite concerns about drivers being distracted.
The screen installed at the Bath Press site | Photo © Bath Echo
In August, we reported that the company had been refused retrospective advertising consent for the 88-inch screen which sits on top of the sales suite. Nevertheless, it remains in place.
Bath & North East Somerset Council planning officers said the brightly-lit screen could pose a hazard for motorists at the junction where Windsor Bridge Road, Brook Road and Lower Bristol Road converge.
They also said the backlit changing video and imagery was “at odds” with historic architecture nearby, including the Royal Oak pub and the retained façade of the Bath Press site.
The developer has since lodged an appeal with the Secretary of State, insisting its initial application is acceptable, as well as submitting a second advertisement consent application to the council, which includes some changes to reduce the TV’s potential impact.
But the council’s highways team say the screen’s position right next to a “heavily trafficked signalised junction” still raises concerns about “driver distraction” and they recommend it should be refused again.
The latest proposal for a TV screen behind a glass panel, on which council planners are due to make a decision by 1st December, says the static image has been selected to display between 9pm and 7am to “significantly reduce any risk of distraction to drivers” and will be equivalent to any other road sign, with slightly increased visibility.
It adds: “Secondly, the video that is played in the remaining hours has been significantly slowed down. Again, we suggest that this poses less of a potential distraction to drivers.”
Green councillor Saskia Heijltjes, who represents Lambridge on the other side of the city but is the council’s member advocate for active travel, shares the highways team’s concerns.
In her objection, she says: “The proposed advertising display would introduce an additional source of distraction and glare at an already complex and busy junction, used daily by drivers, cyclists and pedestrians.
“The area is home to many students and young people who walk, wheel and cycle locally, increasing the number of vulnerable road users affected. Since 2019, five collisions have been recorded at or near this junction, showing it is already a safety concern.
“Any illuminated or changing advertisement would heighten the risk of further incidents by drawing drivers’ attention away from the road environment.”
She has also highlighted the “visual clutter, light pollution and an intrusive commercial element” in a largely residential neighbourhood.
Meanwhile, objections from the public include: “As a regular user of this junction as a pedestrian, cyclist and driver, I can tell you there is no need for anyone to have their attention distracted any further by what is proposed here.
“I invite the planning committee to visit the site and witness the red light running, the number of drivers scrolling on their phones whilst waiting/driving and the speed and aggression of some motorists.
“Then consider this is all happening in the midst of hundreds of pedestrians every hour at a junction with a poor safety record, where one of the ‘legs’ of the junction doesn’t even have crossing facilities.
“B&NES themselves have not even taken the most basic step of reducing the speed limit here in light of the collisions that have occurred.
“It remains 30mph, a speed that is fully understood to make collisions more likely and more severe versus 20mph. The last thing anyone needs here is drivers’ attention being diverted any further than it is.
“I would also add Bath is a haven away from such gaudy things as large publicity sited screens. The area around the junction is rapidly changing into a residential area and we should be shaping it into a nice place to live.
“At present, the multi-lane road makes the area far too driver-centric. Feeding commercial messages into that space will do nothing to make it a more pleasant place to be.”
