Inspector backs council on ‘harm’ of Newport service station sign plan

A planning inspector has rejected a proposal to add one more sign to a Newport service station site.

Wildstone Estates Limited had appealed to the Planning Inspectorate after Telford & Wrekin Council threw out its plan for a digital sign at the site in Lower Bar.

Council planners had decided that the 2.4m tall (7ft 9 inches) illuminated sign “would introduce a modern, visually assertive feature into this sensitive historic setting.”

Outdoor media infrastructure provider Wildstone was working with forecourt operator Motor Fuel Group (MFG) to “modernise” advertising equipment.

A planning inspector visited the site on February 9 and found that the “main issue is the effect of the advertisement upon the visual amenity of the area.”

The inspector ruled that all the signs on the site “combines to create an overall negative visual impact of the site”.

They added: “Accordingly, the site makes a neutral to moderately negative contribution to the character and appearance of the area.”

The inspector added that it would erode the “pleasant appearance of the surrounding historic streetscape, exacerbated by it being an internally illuminated advertisement.”

Proposals to reduce the number of signs on the site would not lessen its impact.

The inspector noted the “environmental, social and economic benefits identified by the appellant” but regarded these as of “modest benefits only.”