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07
Oct
Government rejects Harrogate digital street hub
The government has rejected plans for a new digital street hub in Harrogate.
BT submitted plans to install the digital hub on Oxford Street opposite Halifax bank.
The hub would have a 75-inch, LCD advertising display screen, as well as free public Wi-Fi, free UK calls, USB charging and an emergency services button.
In its plans, BT said the hub would help to “significantly enhance the provision of local community communications facilities and services”.
However, North Yorkshire Council refused the plan in April on the grounds that the hub would be “intrusive and inappropriate”.
The company took the decision to the government’s Planning Inspectorate, which deals with planning disputes.
‘Obtrusive and jarring’
But, David Cross, a government planning inspector, rejected the appeal in a decision notice published on Monday (October 5).
Mr Cross said the hub would be an “obtrusive and jarring feature” in the setting of the nearby grade-II listed Wesley Chapel.
He added that the public benefits of the proposal would not outweigh the harm caused.
Mr Cross said:
I conclude that the proposal would fail to preserve or enhance the character and appearance of the conservation area and would therefore lead to harm to the conservation area.
It would also harm the setting of the listed building. There are no public benefits of such weight that would outweigh that harm.
The move comes as BT won an appeal against the council’s decision to refuse a digital street hub on Cheltenham Parade in March.
The authority argued that the hub would “introduce visual clutter” and “unrelated advertising”.
However, Andreea Spataru, a planning inspector, said in a decision notice that while she recognised the concerns over “visual clutter and unrelated advertising” there was a “commercial nature” to the area.
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