Exeter smart hubs rejected

City council says no

There’s more bad news for BT from a Devon council as plans for four more high street ‘hubs’ are rejected.

Hot on the heels of Torbay Council turning down a clutch of planning applications for the hubs, which stand three metres high and have giant screens displaying advertisements and information, Exeter City council has done the same.

Council officers have rejected the applications for hubs outside Waterstones in the High Street; outside Poundland in Cowick Street; outside the Monkey Suit bar in Sidwell Street and outside JD Sports in the High Street.

BT also wanted permission to get rid of redundant telephone boxes.

The hubs come with two screens each, and BT says they are a ‘sleek and modern answer to the demands of a digitally connected society’. They can also provide the council with environmental data from sensors embedded in the structure.

But a number of other councils around the country, Torbay included, have rejected the hubs on the grounds of too much street ‘clutter’ and complaints of obstructed pavements from people with mobility issues.

One of the Exeter City Council decision notices says: “The proposed street hub unit including digital advertisement screens is considered an incongruous and unduly prominent addition to the street scene by virtue of the height, design, and visual prominence which would be detrimental to visual amenity and the character and the appearance of the streetscape.”

Another reads: “By virtue of its position, height and design, the proposed street hub unit would present an unsympathetic, incongruous and unduly prominent form.”