A COUNCIL decision refusing permission for a large rotating TV screen outside Celtic Park has been overturned — but the club will not be allowed to show video on it.
Celtic was told by Glasgow City Council earlier this year that it could not put up the 7.6-metre by 3.8-metre revolving LED display. Officials believed it would distract drivers on nearby London Road and be a “dominant and incongruous feature, to the detriment of visual amenity”.
How the screen is expected to look
The club appealed against the verdict and the Scottish Government’s planning expert has reversed the council’s decision; the screen can now be installed on an eight-metre high pole on an area to the right of the Celtic Way approach to the Parkhead stadium, beside the VIP car park.
But Government planning reporter Chris Norman sided with the council over conditions that will be imposed on use of the screen including a ban on “moving images, animation, video or full motion images” in the interests of pedestrian and traffic safety and to safeguard the amenity of the surrounding area. Only static images can be shown and these cannot be changed more frequently than every 10 seconds.
Celtic had asked for permission to show video during match days and selected events. However Mr Norman stated in his report: “Moving images and the rotation of the advertisement would be noticeable by drivers but, when the display is regulated by the council’s conditions, I conclude that the level of distraction to drivers and pedestrians so caused would be reduced, particularly during the management of traffic on London Road.
“I find that each of the proposed conditions are required to reduce driver distraction and to ensure that the advertisement is not to the detriment of public safety.”
How the screen is expected to look from London Road
Mr Norman continued: “I conclude that the site has the capacity to absorb the visual impact of the proposed advertising and, when subject to the council’s conditions, the proposal would not be to the detriment of amenity or public safety.”
