Environmental campaigners have warned against the impact of digital advertisement screens coming to bus shelters in Wokingham.
Eight digital advertising screens will be put in place in bus shelters across the borough including on Wokingham Road in Earley, Reading Road in Woodley, and Molly Millars Lane.
Wokingham Borough council approved the advertisement plans put forward by Trueform, despite concerns from campaigners about the impact on the environment.
Veronica Wignall, from Ad Free Cities, said that for historical market towns like Wokingham, the appearance of screens ‘can look really incongruous’ and as an ‘eyesore’.
Rona Topaz, a volunteer for Ad Block Reading and Wokingham told the News: “Digital screens in general are environmentally unfriendly, they use a lot of energy. It basically not only causes light pollution, the heat generated can actually damage the environment.”
Energy used by digital adversing screens is equivalent to the amount used by three homes, according to Mrs Topaz.
In its approval notice, Wokingham Borough Council said that the adverts could not be lit up between midnight and 5am.
TrueForm also said that the screens have ‘ambient lighting control’, meaning that they automatically dim when light levels are lower, becoming ‘minimally’ lit in the dark.
Environmental health officers did not raise any objections to the plans.
Mrs Topaz further objected to the ‘tone’ of adverts, suggesting that digital screens often advertise unhealthy products, including junk food.
Anne Coffey, who has lived in Wokingham for more than 30 years, said that the adverts could change every ten seconds.
The volunteer for Ad Block Reading and Wokingham said ‘we’re not picadilly circus[…] if they’re changing all the time, it’s noticeable’.
The applicant TrueForm withdrew plans for one digital advertisement screen on Broad Street in Wokingham Town centre.
This site was targeted by campaigners who set up a petition, collecting around 80 signatures from locals opposing the plans.
TrueForm has been awarded a contract for supply of new bus shelters across the Wokingham Borough for a ten-year period.
In the application, a representative wrote: “The current old, poorly maintained bus shelters will be replaced with new modern, environmentally friendly and sustainably produced shelters, all of the same design chosen by the council.”
The shelters will also be ‘enhanced’ with green plant-covered roofs.
TrueForm added that its digital panels use ‘the lowers consumption’ of energy on the market, making them ‘as cost efficient as possible’.
Digital advertisement screens will be put on bus shelters including:
463 (E) Wokingham Road, Earley
3 Reading Road, Woodley
Asda Chalfont Way, Lower Earley
Molly Millars Lane, Wokingham
552 Reading Road, Winnersh
373A Reading Road, Winnersh
276 London Road, North Earley
Loddon Valley Leisure centre, Lower Earley
