Plans to install several BT Hubs have been squashed by the council – who thought these information stations merely amounted to ‘clutter’ on the street.
The BT Street Hubs are structures with double-sided digital screens which display content at 10-second intervals.
These interactive information boards offer a variety of services from USB charging stations to free calls and Wi-Fi.
Though much of it is advertising, the hubs offer ‘a wide range of local community and council content,’ according to the company.
In addition to the above, they also offer:
Each local authority is provided with five per cent of screen time on each Street Hub, to promote council services or give public information.
BT wanted to place these at several points in the town centre, such as on the High Street and on King Street.
Maidenhead Civic Society raised concerns when the plan came in last month about the lack of consultation.
They were also concerned that these hubs would be ‘predominantly an advertising vehicle for BT with marginal application for community or emergency messaging.’
Now the plans have been rejected by the council, due largely to objections raised by the Borough’s conservation officer.
“The proposed Street Hubs and associated advertising would clutter the appearance of the street scene, affecting the character of the site and surrounding area,” officers concluded.
The added that the proposal fails to preserve or enhance the street scene or the Conservation Areas in the town centres.
“The public benefits do not outweigh the harm in this instance,” they wrote.
Officers added that this made it ‘considered contrary to the aims’ of the Borough Local Plan.
“The proposed Street Hubs would be an incongruous and detracting addition … and cause undue harm to the character and appearance of the street scenes,” they wrote.
As such, all eight applications for the Street Hubs in Maidenhead have been refused.
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