Plans for five ‘communication hubs’ in York city centre featuring digital advertising screens, free wi-fi, touchscreen maps and defibrillators have been refused.
JCDecaux’s plans, which would seen the hubs installed in Parliament Street, St Sampson’s Square, Davygate and Piccadilly, were refused by York Council planning officials following their submission in March.
The advertising firm said the hubs are designed to replace public phone boxes and had been been used elsewhere for public information campaigns and charity appeals.
But objectors including Make It York and the city’s Disability Rights Forum said they would clutter up and obstruct York’s historic streets and affect large events like the Christmas Market.
One described the hubs as ‘glorified advertising boards’.
Council planning officers refused the plans over their impact on nearby historic buildings, their intrusion into public space and them standing in the way of pedestrians.
Officials ruled that there were no public benefits that outweighed the potential harm of the hubs.
The hubs would have featured an 86in (218cm) screen on one side for advertising with a 32in (81cm) touchscreen and public phone on the other.
The touchscreen would have displayed maps and public messages from local authorities while people would have been able to use phones to make free calls to landlines and charities.
Those facilities and others including free wi-fi and charging ports would have been powered by solar panels and funded by advertising revenues.
Donation points were also fitted to similar hubs in Greater Manchester to support homelessness charity appeal backed by the region’s Mayor Andy Burnham.
JCDecaux stated in their plans that thought had been given to the proposed locations for the hubs and they had been open to changing them.
One of the hubs would have been installed in Piccadilly next to the Merchant Adventurers Hall.
Objections lodged with the council claimed the hubs would not be in keeping with York’s historic character and bring large and bright advertising screens to the city’s streets.
They also claimed most of their services could already be accessed through personal phones and the hubs could attract stickers and graffiti.
York Disability Rights Forum claimed they would affect people’s mobility and touchscreens would have been too high up for wheelchair users to reach.
Make It York said the hubs would reduce the amount of space for events in Parliament Street and St Sampsons Square.