PLANNING chiefs at Warrington have refused permission for the erection of BT Street Hubs in Barbauld Street and Buttermarket Street, in the town centre.
The applications were the latest in a series from BT for Street Hubs in the town over the last two or three years – most of which have been turned down.
BT say the Street Hubs provide communities with an unprecedented suite of essential urban tools including ultrafast public and encrypted wi-fi and free phone calls powered by 100 per cent renewable carbon-free energy at no cost to taxpayers or end users.
The unit would be funded by the display of advertising panels on the hub.
But planning officers say the proposed hubs, because of their siting, scale, height, position and lighting would result in a harmful and discordant feature that would be an unduly prominent and dominant structure that would detract from the visual amenity of the area.
They said: “The proposal would introduce a visually incongruous addition and an unacceptable amount of clutter to the street scene.”
Nationally, BT’s proposals to roll-out installation of the hubs have split local communities with many objections lodged.
Despite the fact that the Hubs would be funded entirely by advertising, members of the public have not been convinced.
In many areas, planners have rejected the proposals.
