Planners veto 'inappropriate' advert behind Borough war memorial

We reported last month that advertising firm blowUP Media had applied to Southwark Council to display commercial images in a 7.5 metres wide panel on a scaffolding shroud on the south side of Town Hall Chambers in Borough High Street for six months whilst works are carried out to the flats above The Bridge Tap pub.

This week the application was refused by Southwark Council planning officers.

"The proposed advertisement would form an entirely inappropriate backdrop to the Grade II listed war memorial as well as detract from the many listed buildings in the vicinity," wrote council planners in their report on the application.

In their decision notice, planners wrote: "The display of advertising on the proposed shroud would, by reason of its scale and prominence result in a conspicuous and discordant intrusion to the street scene and would fail to enhance or preserve the Borough High Street Conservation Area."

A similar application was turned down by Southwark Council in 2020 and again on appeal by a planning inspector in 2021.

The applicant had told the council that refusal of the advertisement consent would lead to a delay to the repairs to Town Hall Chambers "as there is insufficient money in the sinking fund to pay for the works and the scaffold".