Torbay says no to BT street hubs and digital screens in town centre

Torbay has joined the list of councils around the country to say no to more ‘hubs’ and information screens on its streets.

The bay’s planning officers have rejected a series of applications for hubs and screens in Union Street and Fleet Street. The decisions were made by officers without the applications coming before the planning committee.

BT applied for three of the three-metre-tall hubs in the town’s main streets – one at Tor Hill House outside Subway and two in Union Street, one outside McDonalds and the other outside Primark.

The hubs would have come with two screens each, on which advertisements and public information can be displayed.

BT says they ‘provide a sleek and modern answer to the demands of a digitally connected society’. The company’s application goes on: “Investment in the high street is at an all-time low, but that has not slowed BT down as they look to ramp up their rollout of new street hubs across the UK.”

But not everyone is a fan of the high-tech hubs, which can also provide the council with environmental data from sensors embedded in the structure.

Winchester City Council rebuffed BT’s advances, saying the hubs were ‘hideous’ and ‘horrendous’. The Huddersfield Civic Society praised the local Kirklees Council for rejecting BT’s plans, saying the hubs represented ‘unnecessary clutter’ and were a danger to people with limited mobility.

Preston City Council turned them down, saying they would mean less room for people using crowded pavements. Other councils including those in Swindon, Colchester and Banbury have also rejected the hubs.

A Torbay Council officer’s report says the screens would create clutter and be detrimental to the street scene.

The public benefits would not outweigh the harm caused, says the report.

Having free phone calls and wi-fi as part of the hubs would increase anti-social behaviour, crime and the fear of crime, it adds. There is also insufficient information on whether the proposed sign would interfere with existing police CCTV cover.

The report goes on: “The proposed sign will lead to considerable nuisance for neighbours by attracting anti-social and criminal behaviour, and due to the proposed level of illumination.”