Frome residents ‘overruled by unelected officials’ over railway station billboard plans

LOCAL residents have been “overruled by unelected officials” over the siting of a large new billboard near their local railway station. 

Wildstone Estates Ltd. applied in March 2023 to erect a large billboard at the junction of Station Approach and the A362 Portway, on one of the main entrances into Frome. Somerset Council refused the plans in September 2023, citing the “inappropriate siting and excessive scale” of the billboard and arguing it could be harmful to road users. 

But the Planning Inspectorate has now overturned this decision, and ordered the council to pay the developer’s legal costs – much to the chagrin of local residents. The new billboard will be six metres wide, three metres high and nearly two metres off the ground. 

The developer previously secured permission from Mendip District Council in January 2023 for a digital advertising board in the same location, despite dozens of letters of objection being logged on the council’s planning portal. 

These most recent plans were originally refused through the delegated powers of its planning officers – despite efforts by cllr Nick Cottle to have the decision made in public by the planning committee east (which handles major plans in the former Mendip area). 

The council cited two reasons for refusal: • The billboard’s “inappropriate siting and excessive scale” would make it “overly prominent” in the street scene • Its prominent would “result in a hazard to users of the highway with a resultant harmful impact upon highway safety” 

Planning inspector Andrew Boughton visited the site on 16th February, publishing his final decision on the Planning Inspectorate’s official website. 

Andrew Boughton admitted there was a “more-than-theoretical prospect” that the developer could move forward with its original proposals for a digital display in the same location. 

He also acknowledged that the billboard would be “prominent”, given the limited amount of small, existing signs on the approach to the railway station. 

However, he argued that the digital version would post a “significantly greater” risk to residential amenity and road safety than the convention billboard – meaning it would be safer to grant permission for the billboard than upholding the council’s refusal. 

He argued, “Even if it were considered that the proposal represents a risk to highway safety, it cannot reasonably be argued that such harm, if it were to exist, would be greater than that of the approved [digital] display.” 

In a separate ruling, Andrew Boughton ordered the council to pay the full legal costs of the appeal on the grounds of “unreasonable behaviour resulting in unnecessary or wasted expense”. 

The decision has been roundly criticised by members of the ‘Say No to Digital Billboard on Portway’ Facebook Group, which has attracted nearly 200 supporters. 

A statement on behalf of the group said, “Once again, this is a clear example that we are not democratically represented by our unelected officials within our council, despite the support from our elected representatives, specifically Shane Collins and Martin Dimery. 

“We thank everyone for their help and support with this campaign, but unfortunately our views and opinions have been overruled by unelected officials.”