Locals petition against new digital billboard on Sydney main road
Residents of Sydney’s Inner West and City of Sydney councils are petitioning the NSW Government Department of Planning and Environment (DPE) to pull the pin on a new digital billboard set to be erected on the corner of Sydney Park Road and King Street.
Launched by David McLaughlin on Change.org, the petition describes the proposed eight by two metre billboard as a “visual monstrosity” that will “rise 5.7 meters above the footpath pushing advertisements 24 hours a day to all drivers and pedestrians in and around the area”.
McLaughlin lives in one of the residential buildings that would have a direct line of site of the proposed billboard, and took action alongside a group of other residents from the complex.
“We knew that many other locals – who hadn’t been directly notified by the Department about the billboard proposal – would be opposed to its installation, so we decided to start a petition.,” he told Mumbrella. “We currently have around 500 signatures and we achieved that by sharing petition links on local Inner West social media groups and by dropping fliers in the mailboxes of locals.”
Credit: David McLoughlin on Change.org
The development application (DA) for the billboard was submitted to the DPE by Sydney Trains, and would be part of the JCDecaux network. In 2021, the OOH media company won the Sydney Trains OOH contract for a period of 10 years.
A visual impact assessment completed for JCDecaux on behalf of Sydney Trains by KEYLAN Consulting concluded that the proposed project would have “limited visual impacts to the surrounding locality”.
So far, 468 residents have signed the petition, which cites a number of concerns including that the out-of-home advertising signage would constitute visual pollution that does not fit the natural or heritage environment of the area. Other points raised outline detrimental impacts on residents, and the potential safety hazards posed for pedestrians if drivers are distracted by the billboard.
Credit: Brett Boardman, City of Sydney
NSW state member for Newtown, Jenny Leong, last week sent a letter to the Minister for Planning and Public Spaces, Paul Scully, highlighting the proposed billboard’s potential impacts on “local streetscape, levels of light pollution, and motorist safety” if approved.
In a statement shared to Mumbrella, Leong said: “Our communities have the right to enjoy their homes and public spaces without being bombarded by intrusive and imposing digital advertising. The NSW Government’s own guidelines clearly state that proposals like this one for advertisements within transport corridors must meet a public benefit test: it is unclear whether such a test has been undertaken in this case.”
Mumbrella has contacted Minister Scully’s office for comment.
City of Sydney and Inner West councils have also objected to the plans on the basis of a number of factors including environmental concerns and lack of public benefit.
Mumbrella understands the DPE will consider the community and council feedback as per the DA review process.
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