Sudden advertising boards to come down

Local residents celebrate the decision to remove advertisement hoardings from the Sudden junction with Councillors William Hobhouse, Andrew Abbott and Wera Hobhouse.

Residents living near to the Sudden junction on Manchester Road were delighted by a Government decision to have advertisement hoardings removed from the area.

Rochdale Council decided that the large advertisements should be discontinued last summer but Urban and Provincial Outdoor Advertising, which owns the boards, appealed the decision.

The appeal went to the Government Planning Inspectorate, who dismissed the appeal last month and the advertisements must come down by 18 March.

Inspector Simon Hand said in his report: "The two large hoardings are out of scale and out of place, introducing a brash commercial presence into an area that otherwise has very low key advertising."

Inspector Hand also said the positioning of the adverts, close to the busy Sudden junction, may confuse drivers at the crossing in an area where they need to have maximum attention.

Local residents have welcomed the decision. Isobel Toone, of Derrick Walker Court, said: "We are all delighted with the Inspector’s decision. Looking at the back of the hoardings, they are disrespectful of the people that live here. We’d love to look out on to some trees."

Councillors too have supported the removal of the adverts. Councillor Andrew Abbott said: "I think the Inspector has made the right decision, backing the case put by the local community. I’m looking forward to 18 March when the area should improve."

Councillor William Hobhouse: "When the advert boards first went up, there was a strong reaction from the community. The discontinuation notice was issued, it was appealed, and now the Inspector has decided in favour of the community. The community has won this victory by the strength and persistence of their case. I congratulate them!"