21 March 2022
Your request
I am writing to ask whether you could help me access information on the electronic billboards that have been popping up on Lambeth Streets over the last couple of years.
It is worth taking a look at this Guardian article for an outline of the issue….
As you will see, one billboard uses the same amount of electricity as three households.
I work in advertising, and over recent years there has been growing discomfort in the industry about their use. We all know they use huge amounts of power, are often installed in areas people would rather they were not and turn advertising from entertainment into intrusion.
But there are always brands willing to buy cheap space, and Lambeth seems increasingly willing to take the money.
Has Lambeth Council any information similar to that outlined in the article:
- Power used
- Power source
- How many have replaced existing boards and how many are new sites
- Revenue
- What accessibility assessments were conducted?
Our response
With respect to answering your query about electronic billboards on the highway in Lambeth, it is worth clarifying that there are a number of street-based advertising units which are not in fact owned or operated by the council, namely, the advertising screens formerly called BT InLink and now known as ‘Street Hubs’, which are operated by Global in partnership with BT. Historically, these units, (which replaced old telephone boxes and used the existing phone lines for the provision of public wi-fi), fell outside the normal licence requirements with Lambeth Council due to permitted development rights which apply specifically to phone boxes. The Council does not receive any commercial benefit from these screens nor does it have the authority to remove them.
At the current time, the Council does not have any electronic/digital advertising units on the public highway, so there is no corresponding data with respect to energy consumption. There are currently 25 double-sided, internally illuminated, sequentially changing 6-sheet Free-Standing Advertising units in Lambeth. The Council recently awarded a contract to a new supplier, Clear Channel, who propose replacing 24 of the 25 (these comprising 16x double-sided and 8x single-sided digital units) with one unit to be removed. The existing free-standing advertising units have been in-situ for many years, so this upgrade of the estate will not add clutter to the streets, nor will it create new accessibility issues.
Planning consent is determined on a case-by-case basis for each site where advertising is proposed, and accessibility requirements are also taken into consideration as part of this assessment, which must have regard to highways safety for all users, including pedestrians. The proposed replacement units are appreciably less wide when compared with the existing units, so will have the effect of returning important footway width capacity to pedestrians and, thereby, improve pavement accessibility.
With respect to the proposed digital units themselves, we can confirm that the new screens will have automatic brightness control to adapt screen brightness to ambient lighting levels, which includes Smart Brightness® to adapt backlight brightness during certain hours so as not to exceed a maximum value. For a significant proportion of the hours of operation, screens will only be operating at 50% brightness. In addition, the electricity used to power the advertising estate in Lambeth will be from 100% renewable sources.
With respect to the income generated from advertising, the Council has already published a Cabinet Member Report online which outlines both the financial and non-financial benefits being delivered by our partners. These include the free use of advertising panels by the Council for public information campaigns, which delivers a significant saving for the Council as well as ensuring our communications can be delivered in real time in multiple formats and languages. Details of this report can be found here.