Bid to install ‘unsightly’ M6 billboards through city blocked after appeal
THE M6 motorway through Birmingham will remain billboard free after they were ruled to be an unsightly risk to public safety.
Developer Wildstone Estates Ltd wanted to place two large video screen billboards next to the elevated M6 in Witton – with one overlooking the city’s largest cemetary.
They lodged an appeal with the Government after the city council failed to settle two planning applications, one for Brookvale Trading Estate and the second on Moor Lane Industrial Estate, in the alloted 56-day time limit.
The Government inspector Hayden Baugh-Jones has now decided that the billboards should not go up.
Wildstone had argued that since illuminate screen adverts are now common alongside the M5 in West Bromwich that there is no reason to refuse them in Birmingham.
But Mr Baugh-Jones concluded Birmingham is a different case as this part of the motorway is lined by the trees of Witton Cemetary.
“Advertisements close to and projecting above the carriageway along this section of the M6 are notable by their absence, which contrasts with the myriad signs and other structures elsewhere along its length through the conurbation.
“In this particular area it cannot be said that such structures contribute to defining local character, which I consider to be generally greener, softer and uncluttered in comparison to other stretches of the M6 within the conurbation.”
He concluded: “The proposed advertisement would have a pronounced harsh and incongruous presence above the motorway and indeed well-above the skyline provided by the treed backdrop.”
On safety issues he reported that as a smart motorway with overhead sign gantries at regular intervals drivers need to be alerted to the varied speed limits and not distracted by adverts.
He said: “I acknowledge that there is a considerable distance within which drivers are able to make their decisions but to introduce further information in this location with the objective of attracting their attention, would run counter to the need for them to be fully focussed on the road conditions and decision making at this critical and often very busy point along the M6 particularly when travelling south-eastbound.”
In March Birmingham’s planning committee confirmed that it would have refused the billboards if the 56-day time limit had not been exceeded. Members have frequently blocked large billboards along the M6 claiming they don’t want to turn Birmingham into ‘Las Vegas’.
Planning committee chairman Mike Sharpe said: “It’s good news that the inspector agreed with us.
“The last thing anyone wants to see in Birmingham is these adverts along our roads, especially next to a cemetary.”
While being against advertising on the M6, the city council has sold advertising space on roadsides and roundabouts elsewhere around the city, including above the A38 Aston Expressway, raising more than £1 million a year income.
The proposed advertisement would have a harsh and incongruous presence Hayden Baugh-Jones