'Unacceptable visual clutter': Planners draw line in sand over Telford industrial estate adverts
Planners have drawn a line in the sand over the number of signs on a Telford industrial estate.
An application to install two non-illuminated totem pole signs on the side of the road at Stafford Park was rejected this week.
The 3.915-metre-tall signs would have advertised businesses on the estate including Greggs, Howdens and Screwfix.
But there is already a ‘plethora’ of advertisements in the ‘highly advertised’ area, say planners.
The Telford & Wrekin Council officers see adverts that hang on railing/fencing and freestanding advertisements for each individual business unit.
The recent application for the new signs even raised concerns from a member of the public about highway safety.
“Concern was raised about the threat to highway safety with the proposed signage restricting a driver’s view,” planners reported.
They decided to draw a line on the application made by Marden (Norwich) Ltd.
“By reason of the scale and siting, the totem signs would result in a proliferation of signage and would create an unacceptable level of visual clutter in the street scene,” the planners wrote.
Officers believe that the proposed signs were of an excessive height and size, would create a dominant, incongruous feature and would detract from the application site and the street scene as a whole.
They noted that officials had “acted positively and proactively” and had raised “matters of concern” but it had not “been possible to arrive at a satisfactory resolution”.
