Plans for Digital Hubs Blocked Over Safety Concerns

Plans for digital screens to replace phone boxes at four separate locations in Reading have all been refused due to concerns that they would distract drivers.

Plans to replace phone boxes with digital Street Hubs at four Reading locations have been refused after council officers warned they could distract drivers and make pavements harder to navigate.

BT, which manages the town’s phone boxes, has been rolling out Street Hubs that offer free calls, public Wi‑Fi and double‑sided advertising screens. There are already hubs in Broad Street, Market Place, St Mary’s Butts and West Street.

BT applied to install new hubs outside Great Brighams Mead on Vastern Road, in Church Street, Caversham, at the Esso station on 856 Oxford Road (Norcot) and outside shops on Shinfield Road. Reading Borough Council rejected all four applications in November last year.

The council’s highways team said the moving ads could distract drivers. A report on the Vastern Road plan warned: “Given that all advertisements are intended to attract attention, particularly if they are facing on‑coming traffic, it is the Highway Authority’s view that the proposed sequencing images, would cause distraction for drivers with a consequential risk of rear‑end shunts.”

The objection to the Oxford Road hub noted there have been four crashes at that spot in the last three years, with another eight crashes in and around the Norcot junction over the same period.

The council’s access officer also objected to all the plans, saying an "over‑saturation" of street furniture makes navigation difficult for people with disabilities and wheelchair users. For Caversham, the officer pointed to existing obstructions from the poles holding up St Martin’s Precinct.

BT has appealed three of the refusals to the planning inspectorate — for Vastern Road, Oxford Road and Church Street. An appeal for the Shinfield Road refusal has not been submitted.

The appeals are listed in a report for the council’s planning applications committee meeting on 7 January. You can view the refused applications using the planning references below:

• Great Brighams Mead – PL/25/1351 and PL/25/1356
• Shell Norcot – PL/25/1353 and PL/25/1358
• 29 Church Street, Caversham – PL/25/1352 and PL/25/1357
• 239 Shinfield Road – PL/25/1354 and PL/25/1359

James Aldridge, Local Democracy Reporter