'Harmful impact' - South Tyneside digital ad plan gets rejected over serious safety concerns
Highway safety fears sees South Tyneside digital ad plan blocked.
Plans for a large digital advertising screen near a South Tyneside industrial estate and the Port of Tyne have been refused over highway safety fears.
South Tyneside Council’s planning department has been considering an application for a new advertising installation at “land adjacent to Bede Industrial Estate facing Jarrow Road (A185).”
A cover letter submitted to council officials noted the plans were linked to outdoor media infrastructure provider Wildstone Estates Limited and confirmed a single-sided advertisement display was proposed which would present “multiple static advertisements on rotation”.
It was noted that the plans were part of an “industry wide drive to rationalise, modernise and upgrade advertising infrastructure to meet modern requirements".
Applicants make defence of plans
In the case of the site near Bede Industrial Estate, applicants said that the “surrounding context is largely commercial in character with employment uses located directly to the south and west of the site” and that the site’s location was “suitable for advertisements of this kind”.
Applicants also said the display technology was “lightweight, durable and efficient”, with a quality of image that would ”mimic that of a traditional poster and paste display”, and added the proposed site was “an uncomplicated location which drivers should be able to navigate with ease."
‘Harmful impact’
After considering the planning application, South Tyneside Council's planning department refused it, citing a potential "harmful impact upon highway and public safety" due to the proposed advertisement's "siting and orientation".
It was noted that the site was in "close proximity to a westbound on carriageway bus stop situated where the horizontal alignment of theA185 Jarrow Road bends and restricts forward visibility".
In this context, council planners said the plan "would have a significantly detrimental impact upon highway safety".
They said it would "unduly distract the attention of drivers travelling eastbound on the A185 at a point on the highway network where they are required to take greater care given the potential for vehicles travelling westbound overtaking stationary buses at that bus stop into the path of eastbound traffic."
South Tyneside Council's planning department refused the planning application on June 19, 2026.
The applicant has the right to challenge the council's refusal decision by lodging an appeal with the Secretary of State.
For more information, visit South Tyneside Council’s planning portal website and search for reference 260066.