Plans for the billboard in Archway

A GIANT light-up billboard on a wall of the Archway Tavern is at the centre of a planning dispute between a marketing company and the local authority.

In August, Islington Council refused to give King Media Ltd permission to requisition the back outer wall of the Archway Tavern for a 25ft tall “digital LED display” that would beam adverts out to drivers approaching the gyratory.

But King Media has since appealed against the council’s verdict, with a final decision now in the hands of the Planning Inspector.

The council rejected the proposal for a screen on the grounds that it would be “visually incongruous” and “harm­ful to the character and appearance” of the surrounding conservation area.

Its decision document added that the screen’s “design, size, siting and prominent location would be an overly dominant feature which would increase visual clutter”, and compared it to a similar proposal – for a smaller billboard – rejected in 2006 by both the council’s planning team and the Planning Inspector.

But King Media Ltd has contested the local authority’s claim that its advertising screen would be an eyesore in this part of Archway.

The company argued that it would cause no harm to public safety or residential homes and would actually improve the look of the pub’s back wall by putting a stop to the graffiti and patchy repainting that currently characterises it.

“Replacing a repeatedly vandalised surface with a designed, maintained feature would enhance the area’s appearance”, said King Media’s appeal document.

“The site forms part of a busy commercial hub rather than a sensitive residential enclave.

“The surrounding environment including Navigator Square, Vantage Point Tower, and the proposed Archway Campus has established a contemporary urban grain. Within that setting, moderate visual prominence is not harmful but characteristic of a vibrant town centre node.”