Victoria Gate: Leeds Council chiefs reject plans to install digital LED display at Eastgate roundabout
An advertising firm has been refused permission to install a ‘vast’ digital display screen next to a busy road junction in Leeds.
Council highways bosses said the LED screen would have distracted motorists on the Eastgate roundabout.
London Lites Ltd applied to fix the display, measuring 5m by 7.5m, near the Victoria Gate multi-storey car park.
A planning report said: “The proposed location and vast scale of the digital LED advertisement pose a significant risk of driver distraction, which could increase the likelihood of collisions involving vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians.”
There was a risk that the display would blend in with existing road signage, confusing drivers on Dyer Street the A61.
The Leeds City Council report said: “Along this stretch of the A61 there have been six collisions involving vehicles colliding with each other.”
Objections to the planning application were also received from the council’s conservation team and Leeds Civic Trust.
The applicant said the display would not be switched on between 11pm and 6am.
London Lites said: “We believe the advertisement is of a suitable size, scale and design which is in keeping with the city centre area and surrounding commercial properties.”
The council said the screen would harm the appearance of the surrounding area, which includes a grade II-listed former petrol station designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield and built in 1932.
The report said: “It is considered that the proposed overall size, height and illumination of the advertisements would be visually intrusive and a potential distraction.”